F 389 
.P937 

iCopV 1 



Account 



OF THE 



Removal of the Remains 



OF 



STEPHEN F. AUSTIN 



FROM 



Peach Point Cemetery 



IN 



Brazoria County, Texas 



TO 



State Cemetery, Austin, Texas 

October 18 to 20, 1910 



COMPILED BY GUY M. BRYAN, Jr. 



Account 

OF THE 

Removal o£ the Remains 

OF 

STEPHEN F. AUSTIN 

FROM 

Peach Point Cemetery 

IN 

Brazoria County, Texas 

TO 

State Cemetery, Austin, Texas 

October 18 to 20. 1910 



COMPILED BY GUY M. BRYAN. Jr. 






GRAY. DILLAYE & CO.. Printe 

Houston, Texas 



■^ 

^ 



^ 




STEPHEN F. AUSTIN 

Tal^t-n from an Ambrotype.j 






-7 
CD 



REPORT 

Of Joint Committee of Senate and House Representatives to the Legis- 
lature of the State of Texas. 

Hon. A. B. Davidson, President of the Senate, and Ron. Satn 

Rcyhurn, Speaker of the House of Representatives: 

Sirs: The joint committee, appointed under the provisions of 
the following concurrent resolution passed at the fourth called 
session of the Thirty-first Legislature : 

"Relating to the removal of the remains of Stephen F. Austin. 
H. C. R. No. 4. House concurrent resolution. 

"Resolved, by the House of Representaties, the Senate con- 
curring, That a committee, to be composed of three members of 
the House and two members of the Senate, be appointed to super- 
intend the removal of the remains of Stephen F. Austin, the 
Father of Texas, from the obscure place on the lower Brazos, 
where they now repose, to the State Cemetery at Austin, his 
surviving relatives having consented thereto ; the expense of such 
removal to be paid out of the contingent fund of both Houses 
of the Legislature. Approved September 7, 1910." 

Respectfully submit their report as follows : 

That Senators J. E. Kautfman, of Galveston County, and John 
L. Peeler, of Travis County, were appointed members of the 
joint committee provided for in said resolutions, on the part of 
the Senate, and Representatives A. T. IMcKinney, of Walker 
County, L. P. "Wilson, of Harrison County, and M. S. Munson, 
of Brazoria County, on the part of the House of Representa- 
tives. 

Said committee, at a meeting held in the House of Representa- 
tives, on September 7th, 1910, organized by electing Rep. McKin- 
ney, as Chairman of the Committee, and Rep. Munson as Sec- 
retary. 

After a careful consideration of the matter, it was decided 
that the remains of Gen. Austin should be exhumed on October 
18, 1910, and removed to the State Capitol the next day, and 
lie in state in the Senate Chamber until they should be taken to 
the State Cemetery for re-interment on Thursday, October 20th, 
1910, and that suitable ceremonies be had in the Senate Chamber 

(3) 



on the night of October 19th, 1910, and at the cemetery the next 
day. 

Mr. V. 0. Weed, undertaker, of the City of Austin, was selected 
to superintend the removal and re-interment of the remains at 
Austin. 

In accordance with this arrangement, on October 18th, 1910, 
the committee, accompanied by Mr. Sebe Newman, Sergeant-at- 
Arms of the House of Representatives, met at the Gulf Prairie 
Cemetery, ten miles east of the town of Brazoria, in Brazoria 
County, where all that was mortal of the Father of Texas, had 
peacefully reposed since the 29th day of December, 1836, when 
his body was committed to the soil of the Commonwealth he had 
loved and served so well, with imposing ceremonies, in the pres- 
ence of the President and Vice-President, and many of the prin- 
cipal officers of the Army and Navy of the Republic of Texas. 

Over a small brick structure, which had been built over the 
grave, rested a marble slab bearing the inscription: 

Genl. Stephen Fuller Austin, 

Eldest son of 

Moses and Mary Austin, 

born 8rd of November, 1793, 

in Austinville, 

State of Virginia, 

Departed this life 

on the 27th of December, A. D. 1836. 

at Columbia, 

Republic of Texas, 

Aged 43 years, 1 month 

and 24 days. 

The slab and structure having been removed, the undertaker 
and his assistants began the work of disinterment under the 
supervision of the committee and many of the relatives of the 
deceased, who watched its progress with eager interest. 

The bones of the great diplomat and statesman, lying in their 
proper places, some pieces of the coffin in which he was buried, 
and a few of the nails used in its construction, were all that 
had withstood the ravages of time, and these relics and as much 
of the sacred dust as could be collected, were placed by loving 
hands in the casket which had been provided for their reception. 

The following relatives of the deceased were present and wit- 
nessed the disinterment : 

Mr. and Mrs. Jas. Perry Bryan, Quintana; Mrs. Wm. Joel 



Biyan, Velasco ; Wm. Joel Bryan, Jr., Velasco ; Jas. Perry Bryan, 
Jr., Velasco; Mrs. S. I. Bryan, Durazno; Mr. and Mrs. S. I. 
Stratton. Dnrazno; S. I. Stratton, Jr., Durazno ; Luannie Strat- 
ton, Dnrazno; INfiss Sarah Perry, Perry Landing; IMr. Bryan 
Perry, Perry Landing; Mr. and IMrs. Gordon H. Bryan, Perry 
Landing; Mr. and IMrs. F. A. Brock, Angleton ; Mr. II. A. Perry, 
Angleton ; Mr. Austin Y. Bryan, Columbia ; Mrs. A. A. Moore, 
Bay City; Mr. M. S. Perry, Bay City; Corinne Perry, Bay City; 
Mr", and Mrs. E. L. Perry, Bay City ; Mr. and Mrs. S. S. Perry, 
Markham; Mv. Guy M. Bryan, Jr., Houston; Mr. Guy M. Bryan, 
Houston ; ]\Iiss Eliza Bryan, Houston. 

The casket having been closed, the journey to the Capital be- 
gan. Arriving at Brazoria, the party were met by a committee 
of the citizens, and also by the school children of the town. 

An appropriate address on the life and services of General 
Austin was delivered by Dr. Weems, to which Senator Kauffman, 
of the committee, responded, and as the school children marched 
by the casket, each one dropped a white flower upon it. 

The remains were then transferred to the train for Houston, 
and at the request of the citizens of Angleton, a short stop was 
had at that place. The school children of the town, one of their 
number carrying a Texas flag, sang a Texas patriotic song, and 
placed a beautiful wreath of flowers upon the casket, and on the 
arrival of the train at Houston, the remains wei'e placed under 
a guard for the night. 

LTpon the invitation of the Chamber of Commerce of the City 
of Houston, it was arranged that a celebration should take place 
at the Stephen F. Austin School, in that city, on the morning 
of the 19th of October, before the departure of the train for 
Austin. 

In pursuance of this plan, a large number of the officials and 
citizens of the city met the committee at the Rice Hotel, at 8 
o'clock a. m., and accompanied the remains to the Stephen F. 
Austin School, where the casket was placed in the yard in front 
of the building. 

Several hundred children of the school, under the direction 
of Prof. P. W. Horn, Superintendent of the city schools, gath- 
ered around the casket, and paid their tribute to the memory 
of the great Texan, by placing flowers upon it and singing songs. 

An interesting essay on the life of Austin was read by one 
of the students, and an oration on behalf of the citizens of Hous- 
ton was delivered by Hon. Joe Eagle, of that city. A beautiful 
floral offering was presented by the Daughters of the Republic. 

The procession then moved through the crowded streets of the 



city, which was once the Capital of Texas, and whose patriotic 
citizens joined enthusiastically in honoring the dead chieftain to 
the Central Depot, from which the funeral party left for Austin 
at 10:30 a. m. 

Arriving at the Capital at 4:40 p. m., the party were received 
by the Mayor and committee of citizens, and the remains were 
escorted to the Senate Chamber by two companies of the Texas 
National Guard, under the command of Brigadier General Hutch- 
ings, to lie in state until their removal to the State cemetery 
the next day. 

At 8 p. m. a large audience, including the Governor and the 
heads of the departments of the State government, assembled 
in the Senate Chamber to witness the ceremonies that had been 
arranged for that occasion. 

Eloquent and impressive discourses upon the services of the il- 
lustrious dead were delivered by Hon. A. W. Terrell and the 
Rev. R. J. Briggs, and the services were concluded by a prayer 
by the Rev. Dr. E. B. Wright. 

At 3 :30 p. m. on Thursday, October 20th, the funeral proces- 
sion w^as formed at the Capitol, and the casket, followed by the 
committee. State officials and the citizens of Austin and other 
parts of the State, under the escort of the two military companies, 
was borne to its last resting place in the State cemetery, and with 
simple but impressive ceremonies, the remains of the hero and 
statesman were committed to the soil of Texas, within the limits 
of the beautiful city that bears his honored name. 

After the grave had been closed, a Texas flag was placed upon 
it by Mrs. Rebecca J. Fisher, President of the Daughters of the 
Republic, a fitting tribute to the Father of Texas from the pa- 
triotic women of the State. 

The joint committee having discharged the honorable duty im- 
posed upon it. recommend that a suitable monument be erected 
over the remains of this great and good man, in the State Ceme- 
tery at Austin, that may serve to inspire the youth of our country 
with high ideals of character and achievement, and serve to per- 
petuate to other times the memory of one who so largely con- 
tributed to the glory and renown of the Lone Star State. 
Respectfully submitted, 

J. E. Kauffmann. 
John L. Peeler, 
On behalf of the Senate. 

A. T. ]\rcKlNNEY, 

L. P. Wilson, 

M. S. MUNSON, 

On behalf of the House of Representatives. 



AUSTIN'S REMAINS WERE DISINTERED 

Every Bone of Frame Recovered and all were well Preserved — Rested 

since December 29, 1836 — Only a Few Pieces of the Casket 

Found — Changes of Country Since the Funeral 

Special to The Galveston News. 

Grave of Stephen F. Austin, Peach Point, Brazoria Co., Tex., 
Oct. 18, 1910. — The mortal remains of Stephen Fuller Austin, the 
founder and father of Texas, were to-day disinterred from the 
little cemetery at Peach Point, where they have rested since De- 
cember 29. 1836. under the auspices of a committee from the Leg- 
islature and in the presence of many relatives and friends. To- 
night they rest in Houston, a former Capital of the State he 
founded, but a place that had not been established when he died, 
although it is now a modern city. Tomorrow the remains will be 
conveyed to Austin, the proud and beautiful city which bears 
his name, and the permanent Capital of the State, for final inter- 
ment in the State cemetery, where grateful people will soon erect 
a monument as fitting to his memory as human hands can con- 
struct. 

REMAINS WELL PRESERVED. 

Imbedded in the soil he loved, the remains of the great Empre- 
sario of Texas were remarkably well preserved. Of the clothing 
in which he was shrouded nothing was found, and only a few 
pieces of the casket in which he was buried were recovered, but 
every bone of that frame which stood at various times in the 
hostile halls of the Montezumas, and before friendly audiences in 
the United States, and successfully pleaded the cause of Texas 
and Texans, was recovered from the earth and brought to light 
of day before the reverent eyes of friends and relatives. 

The great brain cavity of the illustrious colonizer and diplomat 
was filled with the soil for which he suffered and endured and 
pleaded, and it seemed appropriate that the clear and prophetic 
brain, which once planned, organized, nurtured, directed and pre- 
served this State, should, in the process of time, be supplanted 
by some of its rich, warm earth. Loving hands collected the im- 
mortal relics, and tenderly placed them in a casket, and carried 
them away from the scenes of happiest days to a place where 
more Texans might have the opjiortunity to do them reverence, 
and all along the way people gathered to pay their respects. 

A prettier day for the disinterment could not have been se- 



8 

lected. The committee, accompanied by relatives, drove out from 
Brazoria to Peach Point, a distance of about twelve miles, through 
the sweet autumn woods, and through canyons of growing sugar 
cane, to the little church which stands near the site of the old 
home of Austin's sister, ]\Irs. Emily M. Perry, who died in 1851. 
Relatives gathered at the spot from points in the surrounding 
country, and at 11 o'clock in the morning the disinterment began. 

The roots of a large live oak, which was but a sapling when 
Austin was buried, hindered the work of disinterment somewhat, 
but presently the grave diggers, at a depth of about six feet, be- 
gan to remove pieces of old rotten wood, and very naturally the 
circle around the grave grew intensely interested. The skull was 
the first portion of the remains recovered from the soil which had 
filled and practically destroyed the casket. Then, as the negro 
laborers uncovered the layer of earth from the length of the 
grave, other pieces of the frame were brought to light. The 
bones were found lying in their proper places, but none of them 
were joined together. Lifted from the grave separately, they 
were placed together on a large piece of Avhite cloth, and laid in 
a handsome metallic casket, with the skull at the head. 

The skull was almost perfectly preserved. The teeth were in 
perfect condition, and so lustrous and deep was the natural 
enamel on them that when the skull was held up to the light the 
sun shone through them as though they were made of crystal. 
The sutures between the various sections of the skull were plainly 
discernable, and the relatives and committeemen were deeply 
gratified at the outcome of the disinterment. The day was pro- 
nounced by every one present to have been one of the most profit- 
able and satisfactory they ever spent ; nothing happened to mar 
the occasion in the slightest. 

The skull of Austin is a perfect specimen of cranial develop- 
ment, and an examination with a view of discovering distinctive 
characteristics would convince anyone versed in cranioscopy that 
Austin had every desirable quality that a human shoukl have. 
The extremely thin portion of the brain covering, itself an indi- 
cation of intelligence, was firm and white and hard. 

Austin's funeral in 1836. 

Standing at the grave, one could not help thinking of the 
funeral of seventy-four years ago, when the country was young 
and the people few and far between, but of that pioneer type 
which went bravely into the Western wildernesses of the country 
and paved the way for future development. 



On December 29, 1836, some of the men who stood around the 
grave were clothed, perhaps, in the dressed skins of wikl animals, 
as cloth M-as dear and hard to ])rocure. Some of them probably 
carried firearms for protection from marauders and Indians. To- 
day some of them came to the disinterment in fashionable rai- 
ment, over good roads, in excellent vehicles. The remains, after 
disinterment, were carried through the medium of transportation 
facilities unheard of in Austin's day, in less than two hours, a 
distance that would have taken two days in 1836. 

History states that General Sam Houston, as President of the 
Republic of Texas, stood at the grave. The marshal of the 
funeral procession was Colonel George W. Poe, personal friend. 
He was followed by the sergeants-at-arms of the Senate and House 
of Representatives from the Capitol at Columbia. Then followed 
the hearse, with his colleagues of the cabinet, Henry Smith, Wil- 
liam S. Fisher, James P. Henderson and S. Rhodes Fisher, as 
pall-bearers; his relatives. President Houston and Vice-President 
Lamar; officers of the civil list, officers of the army, officers of 
the navy and clerks of the departments and citizens. 

Austin died at the house of his friends, Mr. and IMrs. George B. 
McKinsley, at Columbia. His remains lay in state from the 27th 
to the 29th, on which date they were escorted from West Colum- 
bia, two miles, to the steamboat Yellowstone, at Columbia. 

On arriving at Peach Point, on the river, the home of James F. 
Perry, his brother-in-law, and the place of interment, the pro- 
cession was met by a detachment of the First Regiment of in- 
fantry, under Captain Martin K. Snell, who paid the last honors 
to the deceased patriot on his interment. 

RELATIVES PRESENT. 

In addition to the committee from the Legislature, the follow- 
ing relatives were present at Peach Point to-day : James F. Perry, 
Peach Point; Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Bryan, Perry Landing; Mr. 
and Mrs. S. F. Perry, Markham ; Mr. and Mrs. J. Perry Bryan, 
Quintana; Guy M. Bryan, Jr., Houston; Austin Y. Bryan, Co- 
lumbia; Mr. and Mrs. E. L. Perry, Bay City; Guy M. Bryan, 
Houston ; H. A. Perry, Angleton ; Mr. and Mrs. M. S. Perry, Bay 
City; Miss Eliza Allen Bryan, Houston; Mrs. A. A. Moore, Bay 
City; Mr. and ]\Irs. F. A. Brock, Angleton ; Mrs. Samuel I. Bryan, 
Perry Landing; j\Ir. and Mrs. W. Joel Bryan and boys, W. Joel 
Jr. and J. Perry, Velasco ; Bryan Perry and Sarah Perry, Perry 
Landing; little Miss Corinne Perry, Bay City; Samuel Irwin 
Stratton (aged 6 years to-day) and his little sister, Luanna Strat- 
ton, Durazno. 



10 

The above named surviving relatives of Stephen F. Austin are 
descendants of his sister. Miss p]mily M. Austin. She married, 
in Missouri. James Bryan. After his death she married the sec- 
ond time in Missouri to James F. Perry. The issues of the two 
marriages came to Te.xas with the Austin colonists, and their 
descendants are numerous in Brazoria County and South Texas, 
and are all sturdy, prosperous and respected citizens in their 
respective communities. 

Among the friends present were Mr. and Mrs. Marion Hunt- 
ington, Misses Grace and ]\Iabel Crosby, and Mr. IMurray Crosby, 
of Perry Landing. 

Senator John T. Peeler, of Austin, was the only member of the 
legislative committee who was not present, the other members 
being Colonel A. T. McKinney, Huntsville ; Senator J. E. Kauff- 
mann, Galveston ; Representative M. S. IMunson, Angleton ; H. A. 
Wilson. ]\Iarshall; Sergeant-at-Arms of the House Sebe Newman, 
of Ennis, was also present. 

FUNERAL PROCESSION TO BRAZORIA. 

Leaving Peach Point, the Avagon carrying the casket led the 
procession into Brazoria, where a citizens' committee and the 
schools of that place carried out a neat ceremony at the depot. 
The citizens' committee was composed of W. L. Weems, Jr.. J. G. 
Smith, Captain R. Hobbs, George E. Badge. D. J. Ogburn, F. D. 
Derebus, B. F. Krause. Henry Turks and Dr. Wesiger. The 
Brazoria white and colored schools and the Hobbs district school, 
across the river, participated in the ceremony. ]\Irs. H. C. Broth- 
erson, of Galveston, temporarily sojourning at Brazoria, was 
among those present at the depot to pay homage to the remains. 

As the school children marched up to the casket on the depot 
platform in a column of twos they divided into single file and 
marched along on each side, each one dropping a white flower on 
the casket as they passed, until the casket was covered with 
flowers. The colored children did the same, after which Dr. 
Weems addressed them briefly on the exemplary life of Austin, 
saying in conclusion : ' ' Like INToses, he was only allowed a 
glimpse of the promised land to which he had led his people." 

State Senator J. E. Kauffmann. of Galveston, on behalf of the 
committee and the })eople of the State, with deep feeling, con- 
gratulated the citizens of Brazoria County for being citizens of 
the county which had been the chosen resting place of so great 
a patriot, and thanked them on behalf of the people of the State 
for the sacrifice in permitting his remains to be taken away to the 
Capitol of the State which exists because of his patience, energy 



11 

and persevprence. Touring tho ceremony nil stood with l)are(l 
heads. 

FUNERAL PARTY AT HOUSTON. 

The train bearing the remains of Austin was held at Angleton 
fifteen minutes, to permit the school children of that place op- 
portunity to carry out an informal program. The Texas flag was 
carried by one of the school boys, and the children sang a Texas 
patriotic song. A beautiful wreath of flowers was laid on the 
casket, after which it was placed on the train and the party 
proceeded to Houston. To-night the remains are at an under- 
taking establishment in Houston, and on early Wednesday morn- 
ing the children of Stephen F. Austin School, Houston, will hold 
a ceremony over the remains at their schoolhouse. At 10 :30 the 
remains, escorted by the committee and a number of relatives 
will start for Austin, w^here they w'ill lie in state in the Senate 
Chamber before being finally interred on Thursday in the State 
cemetery. 

Colonel A. T. ]\IcKinney, of Huntsville. chairman of the leg- 
islative committee to transfer the remains of Au.stin from Peach 
Point to Austin, was one of the first to give encouragement to 
those who thought that the State cemetery in the city which 
bears Austin's name should be his final resting place. Years 
ago he favored the transfer, and it is regarded as pecidiarly ap- 
propriate that he should at last have charge of the transfer. In- 
cidentally, Colonel McKinney's father. Rev. Dr. Samuel McKin- 
ney, was the first President of Austin College, which was founded 
in 1850 at Huntsville. Austin College was named after Stephen 
F. Austin, and was later moved to Sherman, Texas. 

NEGROES MANIFESTED INTEREST. 

The old negroes around Brazoria, some of whom were slaves in 
the ante-bellum days, manifested great interest in the removal of 
Austin 's remains. At the station at Brazoria to-day was the body 
servant of the elder Guy M. Bryan, who was a nephew of Austin, 
and the author of a noted narrative of his life. This old negro's 
name is Sam Bryan Dolly, and he is a capitalist among the Bra- 
zoria County negroes, being worth about $12,000. When Dollj^ 
was given his freedom by Lincoln's emancipation proclamation, 
his former master presented him and the other slaves with twenty 
acres of land each, and seven head of cows. ITncle Sam accumu- 
lated to his store, and is now independent. 

According to the inscription on the tombstones, Austin was 
the first to be buried in the block at the Peach Point cemetery, 



12 

which was later filled with descendants of his sister. Miss Emily 
M. Austin. She was buried closest to him, the inscription on the 
tombstone over her grave reading: 



EMILY M. PERRY, 

Daughter of Moses Austin and Mary Brown and 
only sister of Stephen F. Austin. 

Born June 22, 1795. 

Married James Bryan in 1813, who died in 1822. 

Married Jas. F. Perry in 1824. 

Died 1851. 

A perfect woman, nobly planned. 
To warn, to comfort and command. 



I 

Another tombstone in the cemetery reads: 



Sacred to the memory of 

MARY, 

Wife of Dr. Charles Truehart of Galveston and 

daughter of Joel and Lavinia P. 

Bryan of Durazno. 



A massive new granite monument marks the last resting place 
of that sturdy and famous Texan, William Joel Bryan, oldest son 
of Mrs. Emily M. Perry, Austin's sister. 



13 

Peach Point was the old home of Austin's sister, Mrs. Emily 
M. Perry. A portion of the old loghouse is still standing, having 
survived the hurricanes of recent years, while the more modern 
portion was swept away. The room where Stephen F. Austin 
slept when he visited his sister, which was frequently, is intact 
and well preserved. It contains his library, which has not been 
removed since his death. The property belongs to Mr. James F. 
Perry, of Peach Point, who, for sentimental reasons, is loath to 
change it. The library contains many rare volumes. Some of 
the books bear inscriptions in faded ink, denoting that they were 
presents made to Miss Emily M. Austin while she was a young 
lady at St. Genevieve, Mo. The old masonry gates, three feet in 
diameter, are still standing, but there is little else to denote that 
the Peach Point of the Perrys was once a glorious ante-bellum 
plantation home. The noble live oaks which once formed a giant 
horseshoe about the old place have been .uprooted by storms. 
Plantation life is again coming into existence around Peach Point, 
however, and at the present time one may ride through miles of 
sugar cane in that section of the country. More people are com- 
ing into the country, land values are increasing, and the atmos- 
I)here seems charged with the activity which lietokens a new era 
of prosperity on the old plantations. 

SERVICES AT AUSTIN. 

Special to The News. 

Austin, Texas. Oct. 18. — The casket containing all that is mor- 
tal of Stephen F. Austin, "the Father of Texas," is due to reach 
Austin over the Houston & Texas Central Railroad at 4:45 o'clock 
to-morrow afternoon. A procession will beformed, and will escort 
the catafalque north on Congress Avenue to the Capitol. The 
body will lie in state in the Senate Chamber until 3:30 o'clock 
Thursday afternoon, when the funeral services will begin. The 
body, which has been buried in an isolated place in Brazoria 
County since December, 1836, will be reburied in the State ceme- 
tery with State honors and ceremony. 

To-morrow night memorial services will be held in the Senate 
Chamber, the program to include orations and music. In the 
processions, among the honorary pallbearers will be W. P. Zuber, 
who is believed to be the only man alive who ever saw Austin, 
and who was w^ith Houston at the battle of San Jacinto ; Alfonzo 
Steele, of Mexia, the second survivor of Houston's San Jacinto 
army, and J. W. Darlington, another soldier of the Texas Inde- 
pendence army, serving after San Jacinto. 

Active pallbearers: Mayor A. P. Wooldridge, Railroad Com- 



14 

missioner Allison Mayfield, State Treasurer Sam Sparks, E. P. 
Wilmot, A. J. Eilers, President S. E. Mezes of the University of 
Texas. 

Honorary pallbearers : Governor T. M. Campbell, Judge R. R. 
Gaines, Governor-elect 0. B. Colquitt, Colonel George W. Braek- 
enridge, ex-Governor Joseph D. Sayers, Alfonzo Steele, W. T. 
Zuber and John W. Darlington. 

The active and honorary pallbearers, military guard of honor, 
citizens of Austin, and a band, will meet the remains, legislative 
committee and relatives of deceased on arrival of the 4:45 Hous- 
ton & Texas Central train Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 19, and 
escort the remains to the Senate Chamber. 

Memorial services will be held in the Senate Chamber at 8 
o'clock on the evening of the 19th of October. 

Music ; oration by Judge A. W. Terrell. 

Music ; address by Dr. R. J. Briggs. 

Music. 

At 3 :30 p. m. October 20 the funeral cortege will move to the 
State cemetery. Public school children will line up on each side 
of the south gate of the Capitol. 

At the cemetery : 

Music. 

Mrs. Rebecca J. Fisher, President of the Daughters of the Re- 
public of Texas, will place a Texas flag on the grave in behalf of 
the Veterans and Daughters of the Republic of Texas. 

Music. 

The ceremonies will be concluded by Dr. Briggs. 

The legislative escort committee is composed of Senators Peeler, 
of Travis County, and Kaufifmann. of Galveston, and Representa- 
tices jMunson, of Brazoria, and McKinncy, of Walker. 

PATRIOT HONORED 

Eulogistic Services over Body of S. F. Austin — Houston and State Offi- 
cials, School Children and Citizens United in Memorial Exercises. 

From Houston Post. 

Houston paid sincere homage to the luemory of one of the 
Lone Star State's most revered sons and patriots yesterday, when 
school children, local and State officials and citizens united in 
honoring the body of Stephen Fuller Austin during its brief 
stay in the city en route Austin for final interment. 



15 

The formal exercises began at 8 o'clock in the morning, when 
the funeral cortege formed at the Rice and proceeded to the 
Stephen F. Austin school, where the eulogistic services were con- 
ducted. 

The casket which contains all that renrains of the earthly 
tenement of the beloved dead, was placed en state in the center 
of the sidewalk near the main entrance to the school building. 
Draped in Texas flags and flowers, the casket formed the divid- 
ing point for a double line of school children, who marched 
solemnly past the bier, each one dropping a rose on the casket 
as he or she passed. 

Following a short invocation by W. A. Scott, Secretary of the 
Young Men's Christian Association, the ceremonies were opened 
by Superintendent of Schools P. W. Horn, who introduced Sen- 
ator J. E. Kauffman, a member of the legislative committee, who 
spoke briefly on Austin's career in reference to the founding of 
the State. 

ADDRESS BY PUPIL. 

The school children sang "America," and the "Texas Flag 
Song," and two Daughters of the Republic, Mrs. R. G. Ashe and 
Miss Belle Fenn, placed floral designs on the casket before the 
speaking was resumed. These designs were placed on the heavy 
bank of roses which had been contributed by the pupils. A 
large white floral star was placed at the foot of the casket. 

Alma Neurath, a pupil of the seventh grade of the Austin 
school, was then introduced by Superintendent Horn, and read 
a paper on the life of Austin. 

She spoke as follows : 

"The name of Stephen F. Austin has always been loved and 
honored by Texans. To-day the State is paying its highest trib- 
ute to his memory by removing his remains to the cemetery at 
Austin. As the remains are brought through this city, we, the 
pupils of the school which so proudly bears his name, are de- 
lighted to pay our respects to the ashes of the Texan hero. We 
have gathered to have exercises in his honor, and I feel glad 
to tell people of the life of our illustrious forefather. 

"Stephen Fuller Austin was a native of Virginia. He was 
born November 3, 1793. At the age of 6 he moved to ^Missouri, 
which was then a wilderness. Little Stephen saw the Indians 
galloping over the prairie. Their terrible war whoop was a fa- 
milliar sound to his ear. 

"There were few schools in that part of the country, and as 



16 

Stephen was anxious to learn, he went forty miles from home to 
go to school. He finished his studies at a university in Kentucky 
at the age of 17. 

''After he finished school his father put him in charge of a 
boat in New Orleans. A storm arose, the boat sank, and he barely 
escaped with his life. 

"After his father's death, which occurred in 1821, he took up 
his father's work of colonization. Austin and his colonists set- 
tled on the Brazos River. 

"He and his colonists endured many hardships. The pro- 
visions M'hieh had been hidden in the bushes had been stolen by 
the Indians, and for a long time they were without food. 

"He also had trouble with the government. He had to report 
to the governor at San Antonio. By the time he was ready to 
report, the government had been moved to Mexico. On his way 
to Mexico he was attacked by Indians, and also lacked food for 
many days. After thirty-six days he reached the city, where he 
had to stay more than a year before he was heard from. 

"When Austin came back, he found the settlement almost 
abandoned. His return brought many of the colonists back. He 
stayed with his colonists for about ten years, keeping watch over 
them. Then Santa Anna was elected ruler of Mexico, and he 
ill-treated the Texans in many waj^s. 

"All this time Texas and Coahuila had been united as one 
State, and the Texans were governed by laws written in Span- 
ish, not a word of which they understood. As an outcome, they 
called a meeting to elect delegates to go to Mexico and petition 
Santa Anna to give them a governor of their own. Austin and 
two others were chosen to present the petition. 

"Santa Anna would not see Austin, so Austin started home. 
On the way home he was arrested, taken back to Mexico, and 
placed in a dungeon. 

"After an absence of one year and four months spent in dif- 
ferent prisons in Mexico, he returned to Texas. 

"Then came the Texas revolution. After much hard fighting 
Texas was set free, April 21, 1836, by the illustrious ])attle of 
San Jacinto. 

"Texas was then a Republic, with Sam Houston as President 
and Austin as Secretary of State. He worked hard day and 
night to ])crform his many duties. He often sat in a cold room, 
and as a result caught a severe cold and died of pneumonia De- 
cember 27, 1836. That his last thoughts were of Texas is shown 



17 

by his dying words, 'The independence of Texas is recognized! 
Don't you see it in the papers? Dr. Archer told me so.' 

"Austin has been called the 'Father of Texas,' and one who 
knew him well says: 'His long suffering for the weal of others, 
his patient endurance under persecutions; his benevolent for- 
giveness of injuries, and his fiiuil sacrifice of health, happiness 
and life in the service of his country — all conspire to place him 
without a rival among the first of patriots and the best of men.' " 

Hon. Joseph H. Eagle, of Houston, was the orator of the 
day, and after being presented to the audience, said: 

"If I talk to you older people, some of these little ones will 
be unable to understand me, but if I talk to them, all of you 
can understand." 

He then related nuich of the early history of the State, and 
drew a comparison of the Texas of Austin's time with the com- 
monwealth of to-day. He related briefly the experiences of the 
colonists in their struggle for supremacy, and told of their un- 
bounded faith in Austin and his judgment as to what was best 
for them and the colony. 

He drew a moral from the life of the early statesman, and 
urged the children to follow his example by answering the call 
of ■ their country, no matter what it required in sacrifice or 
effort. 

LAST TRIP TO CAPITAL. 

All the exercises were brief, as it was necessary to meet the 
10:30 o'clock train for Austin, and, shortly before 10 o'clock, 
Rev. P. G. Sears offered prayer, and the casket was replaced in 
the Wright hearse and taken to the Grand Central station, where 
it started on its last trip to the Capital of the State. 

The train was due to arrive at Austin at 4:45 yesterday after- 
noon, and it was planned to place the casket in state at the 
Capitol until this afternoon, when it will be placed in its final 
resting place. 

]\Iemorial services will be conducted in the Senate Chamber 
to-night, and among the participants will be W. P. Zuber, who 
is believed to be the only man now alive who saw Austin. 

Among the relatives of Stephen F. Austin who rode in the 
])roeession were J. P. Bryan, of Quintana, Guy M. Bryan, Mrs. 
Guy M. Bryan, Guy M. Bryan, Jr., JMr. and ]\Irs. Frank Her- 
vey, and Fred Bryan, all of Houston, and Mr. and Mrs. E. L. 
Perry, of Bay City. 

All of the men of this party accompanied the body to Austin, 



18 

in company with the legislative committee, which is composed of 
Senator J. E. Kaiiffman. of Galveston, Representative S. INI. ]Mun- 
son, of Angleton, A. T. ]\IcKinney, of Huntsville, Judge Wilson, 
of Austin, and Sebe Newman. Sergeant-at-Arms of the House of 
Representatives. 

IN MEMORY OF STEPHEN F. AUSTIN 

Remains are Escorted to Senate Chamber on Arrival — Tributes of 

Orators — Judge A. W. Terrell and Dr. R. J. Briggs Speak — 

Men Foremost in State Affairs Honor Great Texan. 

From the Austin Statesman. 

The mortal remains of Stephen F. Austin, father of Texas, ar- 
rived here from Brazoria County yesterday afternoon, and were 
escorted with due ceremony to the Senate Chamber in the State 
Capitol, where, last night, an impressive memorial exercise was 
listened to by a large and representative audience of patriotic 
Texans. 

On Tuesday, in the presence of the relatives, the legislative 
committee and the undertaker, the body had been disinterred at 
Peach Point, in Brazoria County, where it had been laid to rest 
seventy-four years ago. The day was perfect, according to those 
present, and birds sang in the yard of the little church near by, 
on or near the site of Austin's home at the time of his death in 
1836. A great tree had grown up over the grave since that year 
of the Texas revolution. 

The skeleton, which was found to be in an excellent state of 
preservation, was placed in a casket and conveyed by rail to 
Houston, and that city, named for Austin's great rival for the 
presidency of the Texan Republic and for first place in the af- 
fections of the people, paid high honor to the illustrious dead 
before sending his dust to bo reinterred in the capital city of 
the great commonwealth which he did so nuich to upbuild. 

FUNERAL PROCESSION. 

The remains, accompanied by the legislative committee and 
the relatives, were met at the Houston & Texas Central depot 
at 4 :40 by a concourse of citizens, including many in public life, 
the active and honorary pallbearers, a number of prominent la- 
dies, and Besserer's military band. 

The casket was conveyed to the hearse, and a procession was 
formed, which presently moved in the direction of the Capitol 



1^ 

to the notes of appropriate niiisie rendered by the band. The 
procession was headed by eight horsemen, Police Chief J. T. 
Laughlin and another representative of the city constabulary, 
two deputy sheriffs, and Captain Rogers, with three other Texas 
Rangers. Next followed General Henry Hutchings, officer in 
command of the military escort, accompanied by Captain Wilbur 
H. Young. Next came Besserer's band marking, followed by 
the Harper Kirby Ritles. 

Following the soldiei-s came seven carriages, two of them con- 
taining the committee of the House and Senate, one with ]\Irs. 
Rebecca Fisher, President of the Daughters of the Republic of 
Texas, and other ladies ; two containing the honorary pallbearers 
and two the active pallbearers. The hearse was followed by two 
carriages, in which rode the relatives of Austin. 

The persons occupying the carriages were the following : 

Legislative Committee — Senators J. E. Kauffman, of Galves- 
ton, and J. L. Peeler, of Austin ; Representatives A. T. McKin- 
ney, of Huntsville; L. P. Wilson, of Marshall, and M. S. Munson, 
of Brazoria. 

Mrs. Rebecca Fisher, Mrs. John L. Peeler. INIrs. Thomas INI. 
Campbell and IMiss Emma Burleson. 

Honorary Pallbearers — Governor T. ]\I. Campbell, Judge R. R. 
Gaines, Governor-elect 0. B. Colquitt (represented by his son, 
Rawlins M. Colquitt), Colonel George W. Brackenridge, of San 
Antonio, Ex-Governor Joseph D. Sayers, Alfonso Steele, W. P. 
Zuber and John W. Darlington. 

Active Pallbearers — ]\Iayor A. P. Wooldridge, E. P. Wilmot, 
A. J. Filers, Sam Sparks, Sidney E. Mezes and Allison Mayfield. 

Relatives — Guy M. Bryan, of Houston ; W. B. Bryan, of Bryan ; 
J. P. Bryan, of Quintana; Guy M. Bryan. Jr.. L. R. Bryan and 
Randolph Bryan, of Houston, and E. L. Perry, of Bay City, all 
nephews of Austin. 

The body remained in state in the Senate Chamber, watched 
bv a guard of honor composed of members of the Harper Kirby 
Rifles. 

MEMORIAL EXERCISES. 

At shortly after 8 o'clock the memorial exercises began in the 
Senate Chamber. The large auditorium, including the galleries, 
was filled almost to capacity. Rich floral wreaths were to be 
seen disposed around the casket, which was immediately in front 
of the speaker's stand, while a well known portrait of the great 
Empresario stood behind the platform, surmounted with Texas 



20 

flags. An immense American flag on either side of the chamber 
added to the patriotic decorative effect. 

The program began with the singing of ' ' How Firm a Founda- 
tion," by a choir under the direction of General W. H. Stacy, 
the audience joining in the music. 

Colonel A. T. McKinney, chairman of the legislative commit- 
tee, then introduced Judge A. W. Terrell, who delivered the elo- 
quent oration printed elsewhere in this paper. The address was 
a masterly exposition of the historical conditions which made 
Stephen F. Austin's life and work significant, and a high tribute 
was paid to the gentle but masterly personal qualities of the sub- 
ject. 

Following a second musical selection, Dr. R. J. Briggs, pastor 
of the First Congregational Church, delivered the inspirational 
address, which is printed elsewhere. 

mayor's proclamation. 

Following is Mayor A. P. Woolridge's proclamation declaring 
a half holiday on account of the funeral services in connection 
with the re-interment of the remains of Stephen F. Austin : 

Stephen F. Austin, truly the father of Texas, was born in 
Austinville, Va., November 3, 1793. He died at Columbia, Texas, 
on December 27, 1836, and was buried at his home place at Peach 
Point, Brazoria County, Texas, on December 29, 1836. There 
his remains have rested in peaceful and honored repose until 
this time. 

By an act of the Thirty-first Legislature of Texas at its fourth 
called session, provision was made for the disinterment of the 
remains of Stephen F. Austin, and for their re-interment in the 
State cemetery at Austin, Texas. 

Beyond question, Stephen F. Austin, as pioneer, statesman and 
patriot, was the most illustrious citizen Texas has ever had. No 
citizen of Texas ever so unselfishly did so much, suffered and 
sacrificed so much, and achieved so much for Texas, as did Steph- 
en F. Austin. 

What Texas is in territorial area, in political and social insti- 
tutions, and in present greatness, is largely the result of the 
foresight, genius and toil of Stephen F. Austin. 

The grateful people of a State should honor the memory of 
such a man, and it is peculiarly fit and appropriate that we, the 
citizens of Austin, the Capital of the State, the city in the State 
named after Austin, should, upon the final burial of his remains 
in our midst, pay proper tribute to his memory and fame. 



21 

L therefore, with the eousent of the City Council of Austin, do 
here proclaim Thursday afternoon of October 20, 1910, from 
12 m. to midnight, to be a municipal half holiday, and I direct 
that all city employes, except such as are necessary to the essential 
business of the city, abstain from work and labor during the 
afternoon of this da}'. 

And I most earnestly appeal to all of our citizens to close 
their offices and business houses during the hours of the funeral, 
from 3 p. m. to 5 p. m. of this day, and, where practicable to do 
so. to repair to the State cemetery, and there, by their presence, 
their sympathy and interest, help honor the memory of the man 
to whom we, the citizens of Austin, owe most for what we are in 
material greatness, and to whom we owe most in the example of 
a pure, good and great man. 

A. P. WooLDRiDGE, Maijor. 

Austin. Texas. October 19. 1910. 

THE LIFE OF STEPHEN FULLER AUSTIN 

BY A. W. TERRELL. 

(An address delivered in the State Capitol of Texas at the re- 
quest of the joint connnittee of the Legislature and of the rela- 
tives of Stephen F. Austin.) 

Daughters of the ErpuhJic of Texas, Comrades, Ladies and Gen- 
tlemen: 
Texas, mindful of her debt of gratitude to the great pioneer 
of her civilization, has always cherished his memory, and has now 
brought here his mortal remains for final interment. iNIore than 
half a century ago a single portrait was hung in the hall of the 
old House of Representatives to the right of the Speaker's chair. 
It was the portrait of Stephen F. Austin, placed there by the 
men who once followed him to the wilderness in search of homes — 
who had shared with him its perils, and who knew him best. 
When, in 1855, another State House was erected, the same por- 
trait was placed to the right of the Speaker's chair, and, when, 
in later years, this more enduring Capitol was built, this full 
length portrait of Austin which you see was placed to the right 
of the Speaker's chair. At the request of Austin's kindred, I 
presented it to a joint session of the Legislature in their name, 
and you will excuse me for remembering that I then expressed 
the hope that Texas would bring some day his ashes from their 
resting place near the gulf, and deposit them here in the State 
cemeterv. where she has buried many of her illustrious dead. We 



22 

are about to see that wish accomplished, and by your indulgence, 
and at the request of Austin's kindred and a joint committee of 
the Legislature, I will now speak of his life and services. 

Liberty, regulated by law, was won by men of a past genera- 
tion, and inasmuch as it was the most valuable heritage they 
could bestow, by so much it is our duty to perpetuate a knowl- 
edge of when, how and by whom it was secured, and thus pre- 
serve the record of their services before it is obscured and cloud- 
ed by tradition. In the evolution of our race the curtain is about 
to rise on an era in which the achievement of an invading con- 
queror will no longer attract, and when the people will only bow 
with reverence before the shrine of those who devoted their lives 
to the enfranchisement of man, or to lifting huv up to a higher 
plane of knowledge. He whose coffined remains repose in that 
casket was the great leading pioneer of an advancing civilization 
in Texas. 

Before reviewing his eventful career, indulge me while I speak 
of his birth and early life. He was born 117 years ago, at Austin- 
ville, in the mountains of Virginia, and the 3rd of November, 
1793 ; the year when George Washington was elected President 
for his second term. He went when yet a child to the wild terri- 
tory of Northern Louisiana, where he became familiar with the 
dangers of frontier life. His education was finished in Lexing- 
ton, Ky., and there, when yet a youth, he attracted the attention 
of Henry Clay. His first public service was at the Legislature of 
the Territory of Missouri, when he was hardly old enough to 
be eligible. There he met Senator Thomas H. Benton, through 
whose influence and that of Mr. Clay he was appointed United 
States Judge for the Territory of Arkansas, and before he was 
30 years old. 

CAUSES OF POPULAR UNREST IN THE WORLD AFTER 1776. 

The present era in which man is exploring and utilizing all 
the forces of nature had not dawned when Austin grew to man- 
hood. No steam vessel was seen on the rivers or the ocean — no 
thread was spun in a cotton factory — no railroads were in the 
world — and, though Franklin had brought electricity from the 
clouds, the telegraph and telephone were unknown. 

The revolution of the American colonies in 1776 had startled 
the world, and the French people roused from their servile en- 
durance of tyranny through centuries by the writings of Jean 
Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire and Tom Payne, and by the example 
of Lafayette, cut off their king's head the very year in which 
Austin was born, and began their career of conquest and car- 



23 

nage. Spain then ruled nearly all of South America except 
Brazil, and all the shores of the Pacific, on both continents, up 
to British America. But when, in 1808, Napoleon placed his 
brother Joseph on the throne of Spain, the spirit of revolt passed 
like a flash over South America and into Mexico. Then the 
patriot priests, Hidalgo and Morelos, discarded their priestly 
robes, and, sword in hand, led a revolt against the tyranny of 
the viceroys. 

INVASION OP TEXAS BEFORE 1820. 

From 1808 to 1819 both Spain and the United States had 
claimed the territory of Texas from the Sabine to the Rio Grande, 
and until the treaty of De Onis, in 1819, settled the controversy 
in favor of Spain. From 1800 until the revolution of Iturbide 
Spain made but one effort to colonize Texas with a Spanish 
agricultural population. In 1804 that government decreed the 
settlement of 3000 families on the San Marcos River, but the en- 
terprise failed. That desire to colonize had its origin in a jealous 
distrust of the aggressive spirit of the Anglo-Americans, and 
could only have been intended to establish a picket guard against 
their encroachments.- Philip Nolan had before that led fifty 
armed men from the western frontier of the United States into 
the wilds of Texas, but he and nearly all his men were destroyed 
by a Mexican force on the waters of the Trinity or Brazos. In 
1813 the wilds of Texas M^ere again invaded by a lawless force 
of 700 men from the lower Mississippi, led by Gutierrez and 
Kemper. jNIagee and Perry, who, after capturing the Presidio of 
La Bahia, and slaying most of the garrison, took possession of 
San Antonio, and defeated a Spanish army of 3000 men a few 
miles from that city, commanded by Don Elisondo. They were 
afterward defeated themselves in a battle near the Medina River 
by a Spanish army under Arredondo, in which over 1000 men 
were slain. The survivors of the battle were pursued and killed 
all along the old San Antonio road that crossed the Colorado 
eighteen miles below here. Their bones remained unburied until 
1822. when the Governor Trespalacios. at the request of Stephen 
F. Austin, had their skulls gathered and interred. Again, in 
1815, an invading force of revolutionists from our Southern 
States, led by Mina and Perry, and another, in 1819, commanded 
by Long, entered the territory of Texas, only to perish. More 
human lives were sacrificed in those lawless invasions than were 
slain in the Texas revolution of 1836 for her independence. Our 
written histories tell but little of those invasions. Available 
sources would reveal much more. 

A race hatred of Anglo-Americans resulted from those re- 



24 

peated invasions so intense that Saleedo, the Governor of Span- 
ish "Internal Provinces of the East," wrote to his superior at 
the Capital that if he had the power he would not permit a bird 
to fly from the Sabine to the Rio Grande. 

THE VISIT TO TEXAS OF MOSES AUSTIN. 

One man, and only one in the United States, made an attempt 
in 1820 to secure homes in Texas for his countrymen by peaceful 
methods. Moses Austin, the father of him whose remains lie be- 
fore us, reached San Antonio in November, 1820, but was prompt- 
ly ordered by the Governor, INIartinez, to leave the territory. 
Mortified and discouraged, Austin, on leaving the Governor's 
office, met the Baron de Bastrop on the plaza, Avhom lie had 
once met in the United States, and whose influence with ^Martinez 
was great. He returned with Austin to the Governor's office. 
and induced him to revoke his order and give his approval to 
the application for the introduction of emigrants. 

How often the destiny of men and of States has its origin in 
trifles. Tracing to its remote results, that accidental meeting 
with Baron de Bastrop — Texas was colonized — then her inde- 
pendence was established after a revolt — which culminated in 
her annexation to the United States ; that provoked the war with 
Mexico in 1846. which was terminated by the treaty of Guada- 
lupe Hidalgo. That treaty doubled the territory of our Union, 
and carried her flag to the Pacific. 

I am quite aware that nuich of what I have said and will say 
is trite history ; but the Austins made history, and it is chiefly by 
its light that we can know them. ]\Ioses Austin, robbed on his 
return by his companions, sick and for days only saved from 
starvation by eating acorns, at last reached the settlements in 
Louisiana to die from exposure and hardships. On his deathbed 
he urged his son, Stephen, to follow up the enterprise he had 
begun. 

STEPHEN F. AUSTIN. 

The son observed the dying request, and resigned his exalted 
office of Federal .Judge to establish civilization in a wild and 
unexplored land. We hardly know, in the light of after events, 
which most to admire, his fllial respect for a dying father, which 
caused him to relinquish in his early manhood an exalted office, 
with its honors and a competency for life — his dauntless career 
in a foreign land — or the high intelligence that sustained him 
through every trial. 

That portrait to the right of the Spcakei-'s chair presents him 



25 

as he appeared in 1824, standin*^- under a live o;ik with his rifle, 
on the lower Brazos, and clothed in buckskins. Before tracing 
further his career, indulge me while I read a description of the 
man written by his private secretary : 

"Austin was slender, sinewy and graceful — easy and elastic 
in his movements, with small hands and feet, dark hair which 
curled when damp, large hazel eyes, and in height about five 
feet ten inches. His face was grave and thoughtful when not 
in the social circle, then it was animated and lit up by his gentle 
love ; his voice was soft, though manly ; his conversation fiuent, 
attractive and persuasive; his magnetic power over others gave 
him great influence over the leading men of Texas, and his strong, 
practical intellect, his thorough forgetfulness of self and devotion 
to Texas, bound the great mass of the people to him." 

ESTABLISHING HIS FIRST COLONY IN 1821. 

Such was the man who, with fifteen companions, started from 
Natchitoches, in Louisiana, in July, 1821, and followed the old 
IMission trail across Texas, through the prairie and wilderness, 
to San Antonio. He saw on that trail no human habitation. 
The Franciscan priests, with an "Intendent" and an armed 
escort, had traveled over in their annual visitations to the mis- 
sions across the continent for an hundred years, but it had not 
been otherwise used except by filibustering invaders and the 
wild Indians, for no commerce passed over it. Scattered along 
that road from San Antonio to the Colorado. Austin saw the un- 
buried bones of the adventurers who had followed Kemper and 
Magee, who were pursued and slain after the battle on the Me- 
dina — ghastly reminders of Spanish resentment. 

He was promptly recognized by Governor ^Martinez on the 
twelfth of August. 1821. as the representative of his father, and 
then explored the country between the waters of the Colorado 
and the Brazos, just two hundred years after the Pilgrims landed 
on the shores of New England. Going then to New Orleans, 
he returned with his first emigrants to the banks of the Brazos 
in January, 1822, and established there the first settlement of 
American white men in Texas. Each emigrant bore a certificate 
of good moral character and of his profession of faith in the 
Christian religion. They suffered privation for the first winter, 
for a boat loaded with provisions was seized by the Carancaliua 
Indians, and they passed the autumn and winter of 1822 without 
sugar, coffee or bread, subsisting on deer, buffalo, bear and 
wild horses. Another year found them abundantly supplied and 
contented, and bv the fall of 1824 Austin had introduced four 



26 

hundred families. The first emigrants were not strong people 
to punish the Indians, but two years afterwards Austin led a 
force of sixty emigrants, and by killing the tribe, stopped their 
depredations. 

CHARACTER OF AUSTIN'S EMIGRANTS. 

Indulge me while I describe the men with whom Austin first 
settled Texas, for without that knowledge the story of their 
achievements would sound like romance. Before he came Texas 
was marked on the map as "The American Desert — Wild 
Horses," so little was known of the most extensive and fertile 
State on the continent. The reports that had been carried back 
to our Western frontier by the few survivors of filibustering in- 
vasions seemed like fiction. It was a hunter's paradise for the 
American frontiersmen, who, like their fathers, had gone west- 
ward as agriculture advanced. Such were the men who followed 
Austin with alacrity to this land when fresh and glowing in 
its wild beauty. Active and strong of limb were they, and being 
inured to hardship from their childhood, their chief joy was in 
the excitement of the chase. Every pioneer knew that in his 
new home security for life must depend on a steady nerve and a 
sure aim with the rifle, which was his constant companion. Only 
the self-reliant would dare colonial perils. They were a hardy 
race, among M^hom hospitality and truth w^ere universal. I knew 
very many of them well nearly sixty years ago, and now assert 
that nowhere in all the world have I ever known any class of 
men who excelled them in the practice of hospitality, and in that 
individualism and self-reliance that make the invincible soldier. 

Such were the men who followed Austin to colonize Texas, 
and fought with Houston at San Jacinto. Greneral Sam Houston 
told me once, when describing that battle, at the request of Hon. 
A. J. Hamilton and myself, that though outnumbered two to 
one, he never for a moment doubted the issue, for all his men 
were fearless marksmen, and were thirsting for revenge on ac- 
count of the massacre of the Alamo. 

Nor were they all destitute of culture, for Motley. John Bun- 
ton, Potter, Carson. Rusk and still others who signed the declara- 
tion of independence, were all accomplished men, and fought in 
that battle. No degrading crime was ever charged against any 
of Austin's colonists on the Colorado. The luxury that enervates 
had never entered their rude homes in which each one reigned — 
poor, it is true, but contented, for he was blessed with abundance. 
No miserable social distinction, based on money or fashion. 
divided them into sets and classes. Hon. John H. Reagan has 



27 

told me more than once that before the revolution of 1836 there 
were not twenty men in all the colonies who were worth $5,000 
each. Their common pasture was the broad prairie that stretched 
westward 700 miles to the Rio Grande, while the black bear, 
antelope, millions of buffalo and deer supplied them with both 
food and raiment. We who rejoice in fruitful fields and grow- 
ing cities can never love Texas as did its first pioneers, who de- 
lighted in the waving beauty of its untrodden grass and wild 
flowers, while it was yet vocal with the nnisic of the wilderness. 

Austin's fiest journey to the city op Mexico. 

A change of rulers in Mexico compelled Austin to visit its 
capital, for the last of the Spanish viceroys had been expelled 
in 1821, and he needed a confirmation of his empresario con- 
tract to colonize under the government of Iturbide. He made 
this journey of a thousand miles over a road dangerous from 
Indians to the Rio Grande, and in Mexico from robber bands. To 
avoid being plundered he went on foot and alone from San Luis 
Potosi to the City of ^Mexico disguised as a beggar, and in April, 
1822, reached the Mexican Capital. There he first met Santa 
Anna and the Emperor Iturbide, whose coronation he witnessed, 
as he did also his abdication. During the bloody era that then con- 
vulsed Mexico, he learned to speak Spanish like his native tongue, 
and after securing the confidence of rival chiefs, returned with 
his contract sanctioned and enlarged by the central authority. 
While watching the shifting scenes of the revolutionary drama 
there, he wrote the first draft of the Mexican Constitution, 
afterward in substance adopted in 1824. This fact has been 
questioned by one historian who never knew Austin or had ac- 
cess to his papers, but is attested by his private journal. His 
papers are in a vault of our State I'^niversity. That Constitu- 
tion was adopted in substance by Mexico more than a year after 
Austin's return home. 

One man. solitary and alone, unaided by wealth or powerful 
friends, had induced the ^Mexican government to reverse its pol- 
icy of a century, and permit the colonization here of the very 
race it had watched with jealous distrust. Calm, intellectual, 
self-possessed, accomplished as a scholar, gentle as a woman, yet 
fearless as a lion, Austin was admirably equipped for the great 
work before him. His greatness shines with increasing luster 
as we see him moving forward, still unaided, and overcoming 
every obstacle in his path. ^lilam, DeWitt, Cameron, Hewitson 
and Robertson followed his example, and in a few years the 
smoke that went up from pioneer cabins from the Sabine to 



28 

Guaduliipe gave token that freedom was advancing westward — it 
had come to stay. 

GRANTED UNUSUAL POWERS. 

In 1823 he repaired to Monterey, and obtained from the pi'o- 
vincial deputation of Niievo Leon, Coahnila and Texas ahiiost 
plenary authority over his colony. Do la Garza made him a lieu- 
tenant colonel and commander in Texas, with power to make 
peace or war with the Indians, to appoint judges and secure tlie 
administration of justice by an appeal to himself. The colonists 
knew nothing of ]\Iexican law. Austin prescribed rules to gov- 
ern them, and penalties for offenses. Horse thieves and lawless 
men were scourged from his colonies, and Indian forays stopped 
by quick retaliation. 

Thus Austin, who had planted the first colony, was its first 
commander, judge and law-giver. Never before on this continent 
was any man clothed with such varied and extraordinary powers 
by a government to whose manners and customs he was an alien ; 
but so justly did he rule that no one questioned or resisted his 
authority, and so considerate was he of the rights, the prosperity 
and happiness of them all. that they loved him as their benefactor, 
and repaid his solicitude for them by their acts of gratitude. 

TEXAS FROM 1823 TO 1827. 

In 1827 he had colonized one thousand families under his en- 
larged contracts, and settled them from near the mountains to 
the gulf. Abundant harvests rewarded their labor, and now 
there was plenty everyM'here. Their land titles Austin issued 
from San Felipe de Austin, which was named after him. Issuing 
titles, adjusting surveys, reconciling differences, administering 
justice, preserving peace with a jealous central authority, and 
protecting the colonists against Indian forays, had employed 
all his time, and required constant vigilance. 

If man's dignity should be measured by his usefulness to oth- 
ers, then no man who ever trod the soil of Texas can outrank 
Stephen F. Austin ; for this rnan, who inspired constitutional 
law at a foreign capital for revolutionary states, returned home 
to eclipse that achievement by the patient toil and high intelli- 
gence which prepared a just government for his own race, and 
helped to establish the supremacy of equal laws. From 1823 to 
1827 was the happiest period of his life in Texas, for his col- 
onists were prospering and contented, the central government 
confided in him. and no ambitious leader had vet come to sow 



29 

discord and weaken his authority. But ambitious men came 
when the colonists grew strong, and threatened Eastern Texas 
with what was then called the "Fredonian war." Through 
Austin's influence with the Mexican chief Saucedo peace was 
restored, and an armed force of Mexican soldiers which had gone 
from San Antontio to punish the colonists was turned back. 
Thus, he who i)lanted the first colony was the first to interi)os(^ 
for their protection in their first revolutionary outbreak. 

PREVENTS \VAR AGAIN IN 1832. 

Again, in 1832, after the affairs of violence at Anahuac and 
Velasco, the ^Mexican General JNIexia was sent with war vessels 
to chastise the colonists. Austin, then at Saltillo, hastened to 
Matamoros, and. going with ]\Iexia to the mouth of the Brazos 
at Velasco, acted as a trusted mediator, and averted war. The 
grateful colonists gave him a banquet, and toasted him as "the 
angel of mercy and harbinger of peace." 

Thus, twice were the colonies on the verge of being invaded 
and destroyed before they were strong enough to make successful 
resistance, and twice the danger was averted by the influence and 
presence of their trusted leader. 

AUSTIN 'S IMPRISONMENT. 

But henceforth he was to suffer by imprisonment and from 
the treachery of friends — with health destroyed, his life was to 
be sacrified on the altar of duty. In 1833 he was chosen, with 
two others, by a convention of the people, to go to jNIexico and re- 
quest for Texas separate statehood in the Mexican Republic. 
With conscious rectitude he went, and went alone, for his asso- 
ciates shrank from the peril involved in the mission. AVhile 
returning home after its failure, he was arrested in Saltillo, 
taken back to jNIexico, and confined for nearly two years in a 
dungeon of the Inquisition. For three months he M'as imprisoned 
in a dark, damp cell, withQut a ray of light, and not even per- 
mitted to speak to his jailor or see him, and who fed him through 
a hole in his door — his only companion a pet mouse. !i\Ioney at 
last softened the rigor of confinement until he was freed under 
a general amnesty. Thus tortured and stripped of all except 
his life, his courage never failed; in the darkest hour he was 
willing to die for his convictions of duty to his people, for he had 
told the speculators at the Mexican Capital who wished to remand 
Texas to territorial vassalage that, rather than take the fabulous 
price that they offered him to desert the colonists and cease 



30 

his opposition to their designs, he would submit to having his 
arm torn from the shoulder. Never did his character shine with 
more luster than when he suffered, a modern Regulus, in a foreign 
prison. From that prison he staggered forth with wasted frame 
and tottering step. From the effects of the solitary confinement 
in that damp dungeon Austin never recovered. 

His private papers show that he expended $30,000 of his pri- 
vate means on that mission to Texas, the repayment of which by 
Texas he never applied for, nor will any of his heirs. These 
heirs, some of whom are before me. prefer to think of that money 
as a sacrificial offering by their great kinsman for the separate 
statehood of Texas. 

Thus he who had established the colonies guarded their inter- 
ests in every vicissitude, twice averted war, prescribed laws and 
established courts, was the first martyr to their aspirations for 
separate statehood. 

ADVISES "consultation" AND HEADS AN ARMY. 

In August, 1835, after his release from prison, he landed on 
his return home at the mouth of the Brazos. His return was 
hailed with acclamations of joy and banqueting, as for one risen 
from the grave. His advice for an immediate "consultation" of 
the people was followed so quickly by their assembly at San 
Felipe de Austin that before six weeks a "committee of public 
safety" was appointed, with Austin as its chief, and a little army 
had assembled. 

The speed with which the people organized, with arms in 
their hands, may seem a mystery. But blood had been shed at 
Anahuac and Velasco, and the butchery of Americans at Zaca- 
tecas by Santa Anna alarmed the colonists for their impending 
fate, when the return of Austin awakened new hope. He wrote 
to Houston: "I am in favor of an immediate declaration of in- 
dependence." The news of Austin's position sped to the cabin 
of every colonist. They heard it with joy, for in their infancy 
they had been rocked to the songs of independence and the wild 
freedom of the prairie and the forest had delighted and inspired 
them. No carpet knights were they, when home was in peril, 
but with a kiss to wife and babes, they shouldered their rifles and 
formed an army. Then from the Guadalupe to the Brazos and 
away up among the red lands of the east the deer were safe for 
a season, for the hunters had gone to seek more dangerous game. 

No rival chief had yet come to alternate in leadership, for on 
the 11th day of October, 1835, Austin was chosen by acclama- 
tion to lead those hunters to the field. 



31 

They ehose wisely, lie alone among all the men in Texas 
offered to pledge all his private fortune for her independenee. 
As the journals show, soon after he did jiledge his whole estate 
to obtain the first loan of money for the revolution. 

REVOLUTION OF THE THIRTEEN COLONIES COMPARED WITH THAT 

OF TEXAS. 

Let us pause now and consider how desperate were the ehanees 
against Texas in that dark hour of her trial. We glory in the 
triumph of the thirteen colonies over Great Britain, but it bears 
no comparison to the heroic struggle of Texas for independence. 
The thirteen colonies had three millions of people, and a wide 
ocean separated them from England. Texas, with less than six 
thousand men all told, fought a powerful Republic, which con- 
tained a population of over seven million, and whose boundary 
was contiguous to her own. England was embarrassed by a 
powerful opposition to the war at home, led by the elder Pitt; 
Texas had no friends in Mexico. England was then engaged 
in a European war; IMexico had only Texas to contend with. 
The thirteen colonies were aided by France, who sent men, ships 
and munitions of war; Texas, without national recognition, and 
with no aid except from individual volunteers, won her inde- 
pendence single-handed and alone. The successful struggle of 
Texas for independenee is without a parallel in the history of the 
world. 

The men of Austin's army cried. "On to San Antonio," and 
then with the assistance of such men as Rusk. Frank Johnson. 
Burleson, Milam, Bowie and Fannin, the IMexicans were defeated 
at Concepcion and driven to the Alamo for cover. Austin was 
no longer the "harbinger of peace." for he was the first leader 
of a Texas army against Mexican despotism, and with the prairie 
all burned west of San Antonio, the surrender of the IMexican 
general Cos was only a matter of time. During the operations 
before San Antonio, Austin, still suffering from his prison con- 
finement, was so weak that his aide-de-camp. Colonel Austin 
Bryan, says his servant had to assist him in mounting his horse. 

AUSTIN SENT TO THE UNITED STATES. 

And now this man, who had defended the colonists in every 
vicissitude of fortune, was ordered by the "consultation" to a 
different field. Reinforcement from the United States was needed 
to help Texas in the spring of 1836 against another invading 
army, and Austin was called on to go and appeal for men, arms 



32 

and ammunition. The selection was a wise one, and he obeyed 
without a murmur; but he wrote to the "consultation": "I 
am at all times ready to serve Texas in any capacity where I 
may be most useful, but should I leave at once prudence will be 
needed to keep this army together." 

Had he been an amlntious Caesar, who refused to oliey the 
senate when ordered to turn over his legions to Pompey, discord 
and strife would have supplanted harmony, and freedom been 
imperiled by rival factions. 

From New Orleans to the Potomac he portrayed with impas- 
sioned eloquence the dangers before his people, and their need for 
help ; nor did he plead in vain, for he spoke to a kindred race, 
who helped with money and munitions of war. His mission to 
the States kept him from San Jacinto, but the help he secured 
made San Jacinto possible. 

HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF. 

San Jacinto was won, and its hero, General Sam Houston, 
w^as then elected over Austin as President of the Republic in 
1836, for the soldiers, flushed with victory, espoused the cause 
of their victorious leader. History thus repeated itself. The 
great author of the xVmerican declaration of independence, the 
greatest diplomat and statesman of them all, and the wise Fed- 
eral leaders who framed the Constitution, had all to bide their 
time for the presidency until Washington, the military leader, 
had been honored. 

General Mirabeau Lamar said: "The claims of General Aus- 
tin on the affections of the people of Texas are of the strongest 
kind. He was not only the founder of the Republic, but scarcely 
a blessing has flowed to our country which might not be fairly 
attributed to his unwearied exertion for its welfare — whilst al- 
most every calamity which has befallen it might have been avert- 
ed by an adherence to his wise and prudent counsels. The world 
has offered but few examples of superior intelligence and sagac- 
ity, and for disinterested and intelligent philanthropy. His 
long-suff'ering for the weal of others — his patient endurance 
under persecution— his benevolent forgiveness of injuries, and 
his final sacrifice of health, happiness and life in the service of 
his coinitry — all conspired to place him without a rival among 
the first of patriots and the best of men." 

Such was the estimate of all men of that daj' — for on the 
18th of October, 1839, while his memory was yet fresh in the 
minds of men, it was toasted standing and in silence at the first 



33 

banquet ever given in this city on the day when the archives* 
were first brought here. Lamar, then President of this Republic, 
Burleson, the shield of the frontier, and James G. Swisher, a 
captain at San Jacinto, and who fought with the forlorn hope 
at the capture of San Antonio in 1835, were among the guests. 
They drank to the memory of Austin in these words : ' ' What- 
ever may be the pretensions of others, Stephen F. Austin will 
always be considered as the Father of Texas. ' ' 

Austin, in writing to General Gaines, of the United States 
army, said: "The prosperity of Texas has been the object of 
all my labors — the ideal of my existence ; it has assumed the 
character of a religion for the guidance of all my thoughts and 
actions for fifteen years, superior to all personal or pecmiiary 
views." 

Austin's death. 

In a cold room he was writing for two days and nights his 
final instructions to the Texas envoy to Washington, but the la- 
bor was too much for the frail victim of a IMexican dungeon. 
On the 26th of December, 1836, while the Christian world was 
rejoicing over the advent of a Redeemer, Austin breathed his 
last. His dying thoughts were of Texas. In his delirium he 
said: "Independence is acknowledged; it is in the papers — 
Dr. Archer told me so," and then the pale messenger with in- 
verted torch touched him, and he returned to the bosom of his 
God. 

Every flag in the republic went to half mast, and when the 
papers announced that the "Father of Texas is no more," they 
all knew who had died. President Houston and Lamar, with 
the heads of departments, bore him to the grave, and Houston, 
sorrowing for a great loss to the Republic, sprinkled the first dust 
on his coffin. 

Thus his life was sacrificed on the altar of duty. 

"So the struck eagle stretched upon the plain, 
No more through rolling clouds to soar again, 
Views his own feathers on the fatal dart 
That winged th-^ shaft that quivered in his heart." 

HIS FINAL REST. 

And now we will place the remains of the great patriot near 
the monuments of those whom he loved, and who helped him 
make this mighty State. Colonel Frank Johnson, his companion 
and friend ; General Hardeman, who, when a boy, followed him, 



34 

rifle in hand ; Guy Bryan, his nephew, who in childhood climbed 
his knee and loved him; Wallace, his trusted scout, with Albert 
Sidney Johnston, Burleson, Scurry, Frank Lubbock and Tom 
Green will sleep by his side, and near them Hemphill and Lips- 
comb ! What a group of immortals will surround him ! 

It is not given us to know what the Great Power behind all 
visible phenomena did with the soul when it left its frail cas- 
ket; we can only hope that it found a better home. Earth and 
sky, the voices of nature, its harmonies and beauties, all pro- 
claim that God is good, and that He did not plant this universal 
hope for immortality through tantalizing caprice. He who pro- 
vides food for the hungry body will somewhere somehow, 
at some time, satisfy the soul that hungers after immortal- 
ity. If this hope is a vain dream, and the spirit of man is anni- 
lated by death, like the flame of a candle blown out — then life 
is a tragedy so full of disappointment that he who dreads to die 
should fear to live. No! No! If the revolving wheel of time 
and change destroys no atom in all this world, how can the quick 
spirit of man, which is king over all, perish? The strong and 
subtle energies of the soul will survive and find full develop- 
ment beyond this transitory existence, amid the prophetic splen- 
dors of an eternal dawn. 

SELF-SACRIFICE. 

The contest between the partisans of General Houston and those 
of Austin was a bitter one, but it was followed by a closer friend- 
ship and allegiance between those leaders, under circumstances 
that illustrate the greatness of them both. When Houston was 
elected he had only San Jacinto and Santa Anna — nothing more. 
No military chest, no credit, no stable government, no recognition 
amongst the nations, no navy, no army, and no means of sup- 
porting one. Then, knowing what perils were before him, and 
looking all over Texas for some statesmen to aid him, he chose 
Austin above all others for his high intelligence and patriotism, 
and asked him if he would ignore the bitterness of the last con- 
test and become his chief adviser as Secretary of State. That 
single act lifts Houston above the plane of the ordinary states- 
man, and marks him as a patriot and a great man. And he was 
appealing to a great man, for with Austin, ambition, sentiment 
and offices were all as wafted dust on the balances, when Texas 
needed him. and he went at once to Houston's side as Secretary 
of State. It was a noble sacrifice of pride to duty, and history 
records no other like it in the careers of public men. How noble 
w^as it in Houston to bow his crest before his defeated antagonist, 



35 

and by supplicating his aid in the most important duty before 
him, announce thus to his own followers that Austin was a great- 
er man than any of them. If that thing had happened in this 
era of machine polities, Houston would have been denounced as 
ungrateful to his own partisans, and Austin as a servile syco- 
phant. But in the light of history, their names shine like twin 
stars seen between lifted clouds at midnight. What an object 
lessen to those who, regardless of public interest, can see no vir- 
tue in a partisan opponent and bestow favors only on the para- 
sites who elevate them ! 

AS A DIPLOMAT AND CITIZEN. 

Never until the lamented Garrison published the diplomatic 
correspondence of the Republic of Texas did this generation 
know the great ability of Austin as a diplomat. He armed Whar- 
ton, the Texas envoy at Washington, not only with convincing 
arguments for a recognition of independence, but for annexation 
to the Union. But there was to be no cringing supplication, for 
he made it plain that when Texas entered the Union it must be 
as a co-equal sovereign, retaining full ownership of all her terri- 
tory, and that it should remain as the Constitution adopted eight 
months before had dictated — one-half for the people and the 
other half for the education of their posterity forever. That was 
the first keynote to all the future policy of Texas, which has 
kept her one and undivided from the Sabine to the Rio Grande, 
and from the Panhandle to the gulf. 

To speak of this man in the language of undeserved eulogy 
would be unjust to him. and his own character would condemn ; 
yet we can truly affirm that such was his intellectual organism, 
his self-poise amid difficulties and the purity of his private life, 
that few men in ancient and modern times have equaled him. I 
have examined his public and private correspondence now in 
our State University, and for years enjoyed the friendship of 
his trusted friend and companion. Col. Frank Johnson, who 
loved and almost idolized him. His colonists loved him as their 
friend and benefactor. They named their children for him, and 
their families rejoiced when he came. He had a welcome in 
every cabin — and he who never knew the comforts of home with 
wife and his own children, lavished the affections of his noble 
nature on the children of his colonists. The purity of his life 
which was revealed in his face softened his habitual dignity, and 
deprived it of austerity. No ambitious warrior was he, animated 
by a love of conquest — he struck only in defense of home — no 
knight errant, seeking fame through adventure ; his greatest tri- 



36 

umph was in the promotion of peace; no visionary dreamer, in- 
tent to accomplish the impossible ; his well balanced mind meas- 
ured in advance every difficulty, and they vanished before his 
energy. 

WHAT PRESIDENTS HOUSTON AND LAMAR THOUGHT OF HIM. 

General Sam Houston, in his last great speech in the United 
States senate, said : "Stephen F. Austin was the father of Texas. 
This is a designation justly accorded him, as will be testified to 
by every man who is acquainted with the primitive history of 
Texas or its progress as long as he lived. Stephen F. Austin is 
entitled to that honor. It is due to his friends, to whom his 
memory is most dear and sacred. Sir, posterity will never know 
the worth of Stephen F. Austin, the privations he endured, the 
enterprise he possessed, his undying zeal, his ardent devotion to 
Texas and its interests, and his future hopes connected with its 
glorious destiny. ' ' 

ADDRESS BY DR. BRIGGS 

Eloquent Preacher Draws Lessons from Life of Austin — Honored 
Best in Imitation of Virtues. 

After some introductory remarks appropriate to the occasion. 
Dr. Briggs spoke in part as follows : 

The chief charm of history is the study of personal character. 
Historic facts and details constitute the framework in which ap- 
pear the portraits of living men. We all love to study in public 
spheres the action of ideas and principles that have molded the 
civilization of a people, and shaped the destiny of a nation. But 
back of ideas and principles are living men. It is only when 
ideas and principles are incarnated in living men. taking captive 
their hearts, firing their best enthusiasms, swelling as an inspira- 
tion through all the veins of their personality, that they begin 
to take root in history, and bring forth fruit for the weal of the 
thousands. So the chief charm and real inspiration of history 
are the living men who moved across the stage and played their 
parts amid the great actions that launched a nation upon its 
career, or saved it in the crisis of its fate. 

We study the work of Stephen F. Austin to-night chiefly that 
we may know the manner of man it reveals. We gather together 
the details, and piece together the fragments that we 
may gain an insight into his personality — his courage, 



37 

endurance and saeritiee. his struggles, his trials, his hopes, 
his defeats and triumphs. Behind the cok)nizer, the sol- 
dier, the patriot and the statesman, we encounter a character 
strong, vivid, vigorous and oftentimes dramatic. A character 
that looks out luminous and living at almost every turn of the 
page. Throughout the many vicissitudes of his career — bravely 
meeting disappointment, disaster, poverty and suffering, languish- 
ing in ]\lexiean dungeons and hending beneath almost super- 
human burdens — at every rise of the curtain, at every shift of 
the scene, it is the man himself, Stephen F. Austin, who stands 
before us. And as we feel the spell of his great personality so 
electric M'ith the energies of consecrated character, we are not 
surprised to read as the mature and thoughtful estimate of him, 
by one who knew him well, these words: "His long suffering 
for the weal of others; his patient endurance under persecutions; 
his benevolent forgiveness of injuries, and his final sacrifice of 
health, happiness and life in the service of his country — all 
conspire to place him without a superior among the first of 
patriots and the best of men. ' ' 

How and where does the world get such men as these — men 
who seem to leap upon the stage to meet a crisis, fully armed 
and equipped? The great constructive thinkers, the great epochal 
men of action, who never fail to appear when the hour strikes? 
The proverb sa.^'s they are born and not made by circumstances. 
Providence, foreseeing the need, fashions the man. But all 
through history we see the movement of a wondrous prescience. 
The hour never strikes, the crisis never comes, but that the man, 
prepared and ready, steps forth to meet it and to do its work. 
God cannot do great things in the history of a people without 
great men to help him. George Eliot represents old Antonio 
Stradivari, of Cremona, as saying: "God cannot make Antonio's 
violins without Antonio. " When God would enter human history 
with the forces and resources that uplift men and nations. He 
must have a man — brave, devoted, of unflinching courage, and 
capable of a lofty self-denial. God cannot liberate Israel without 
Moses; He cannot open up the new world without a Columbus, 
nor project a Protestant reformation without a ^lartin Luther. 
This corresponds to the solid reality of facts all through his- 
tory, and is the explanation to the scene in which we mingle 
to-night. 

Such a God-chosen and God-inspired man was Stephen F. 
Austin. Such a group of men were the heroes who struggled 
and suffered with him for the freedom and greatness of Texas. 
Look out over your State to-day, and you can answer the ques- 



38 

tion: ''What hath God wrought by these chosen and commis- 
sioned men?" The little mustard seed which they planted and 
watered with their tears and blood has grown to a great tree, 
beneath whose shade we sit to-day and rejoice amid all the arts 
and experiences of peace. 

"They wrought in sad sincerity. 
Themselves from God they could not free ; 
They builded better than they knew ; 
The conscious stone to beauty grew. ' ' 

What shall we do with the memory of these men and the mighty 
heritage they have transmitted to us 1 Be faithful to both while 
life shall last, and guard them with our best care, enthusiasm 
and patriotic service. It is a mighty- trust they have bequeathed 
to us. The principles of liberty for which they fought, the in- 
stitutions that incarnate those principles within the social body, 
the memory of the heroes and heroines who suffered and died 
that this heritage might be ours, the invisible, yet most real 
forces of courage, devotion and self-sacrifice, without which all 
the rest would have been impossible or unavailable. 

Young men and w^omen. this heritage is now descending to 
you from the hands of those who have so faithfully guarded it 
through the generation now passing from the stage of action. 
Will you be faithful to it? And how? The best way is by 
imitating their spirit. Make glorious in times of peace the vir- 
tues they made glorious in times of war. What did Texas need 
in 1836 ? Austins. Houstons, Travises. Fannins, Bowies and oth- 
ers. What does Texas need to-day? Young men fired by the 
same spirit — the spirit that lays all on the altar of home and 
country. Renew the fires of j'our enthusiasm, and the warmth 
of your patriotic fervor beside this casket to-night, and fit your- 
selves by example as M^ell as by precept, to baptize the coming 
generations in the glorious traditions of your history. We ven- 
erate the memory of the great dead. We hold anniversaries in 
their honor. We toast them in tender and exalted sentiment. 
We plant their graves with bloom, and give them the tribute of 
sculptor and song; but the loftiest tribute we can pay them is to 
imitate their virtues and their example, and guard sacredly the 
heritage they have transmitted to us. 



39 
LAST SERVICE IS READ OVER S. F. AUSTIN 

Remains are Conveyed from Senate Chamber to Last Resting Place in 
State Cemetery — Children do Him Honor — Casket Borne be- 
tween Double Line — Calvary Company Marches — Two 
Ministers and Mrs. Fisher have Part. 

From the Austin Statesman. 

Within sight and hearing of hundreds of school children, be- 
sides a large number of older Texans, the last services were eon- 
ducted over the body of Stephen F. Austin yesterday afternoon 
in the Senate Chamber at 8:30 o'clock, and at the grave in the 
State cemetery about 4:30 o'clock. The services were impressive 
as the Rev. Dr. E. B. Wright rt^ad an appropriate selection from 
the Scriptures, and was followed by a prayer offered by the Rev. 
Dr. R. J. Briggs. 

Leaving the chamber, the children of the schools then formed 
in double line at the south entrance to the Capitol, where they 
stood as the casket passed between them. 

After the children, the party left the chamber in the following 
order : Legislative committee. Judge A. AV. Terrell, the Rev. Dr. 
R. J. Briggs and the Rev. Dr. E. B. Wright, the honorary pall- 
bearers, the city council, the active pallbearers, the casket, and 
the family. As the procession formed, the same order was taken 
as on Wednesday, with the city, State and county constabulary 
leading, followed by General Henry Hutchings and his aid, Cap- 
tain Wilbur H. Young. The cavalry organization. Troop C, 
acted as the military escort of the day in the place of Company 
D of the day before. 

Guards of honor from Company D had been on duty all 
Wednesday night and yesterday morning, when they were re- 
lieved by the men from Troop C. The guards were under the 
command of Sergeant Henry Hutchings. Jr.. the squads reliev- 
ing one another from time to time, while the company was in 
charge of the remains lying in state. Visitors viewed the casket 
during those hours. 

When the procession reached the State cemetery, the Troop 
C men drew up in double rank, and the body of the famous 
Texan passed between them to the grave. Upon its arrival there, 
and after it had been lowered into the earth, the Rev. Dr. R. J. 
Briggs read the funeral service, and a short prayer was offered 
by the Rev. Dr. E. B. Wright. Mrs. Rebecca Fisher, President 
oif the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, then placed a silk 
banner of the Lone Star State on the grave with a few appropri- 



40 



ate words. The services were concluded, and the Father of Texas 
w;is laid at rest amoiio- the many others whom the State delights 
to honor. 

On behalf of the people of Austin, the City Council presented a 
beautiful floral triliute to the memory of the man after whom 
the citv is named. The words, "Citv of Austin." were woven on 



the offering. 



CELEBRATION AT AUSTIN COLLEGE, SHERMAN, 

TEXAS 

In Honor of Stepen F. Austin. 

On IMonday evening, in the college auditorium, an interestisg 
program was rendered in memory of "The Father of Texas." 
Dr. Hall, of Galveston, presided over the exercises in his usual 
dignified manner, and pleased his hearers by his timely and 
earnest words on the significance of the occasion which had 
brought together the admirers of Austin. 

The principal speaker of the evening was Col. C. B. Randell, 
whose subject was: "The Debt of Texas to Stephen F. Austin." 
Col. Randell contrasted the Texas into which Austin came with 
the Texas to-day, pointing out that he settled the colony with 
white men. who brought with them the institutions of a free and 
liberty-loving people. In the opinion of Mr. Randell, San Ja- 
cinto, important as that battle was, was merely an incident in 
the realization of the plans to which Stephen F. Austin had 
given his life and his fortune. 

Col. Randell was followed by Dr. Clyce, who set forth clearly 
the history and purpose of the Stephen F. Austin Fellowship in 
History and Political Science. He aroused enthusiasm by setting 
forth what Austin College might some day become if only those 
interested in the College would come to the assistance of the 
institution Mnth their means. 

The subject of Dr. T. A. Wharton's address was the motto 
upon Austin's coat-of-arms. "Deus Regnat." The chief point 
made by Dr. Wharton was that an overruling Providence guided 
Austin's steps to Texas on his memorable mission. To the 
Speaker's mind, Austin was pre-eminently the gentleman, the 
coherent force in the State. 

The musical part of the program was especially interesting. 
Vocal solos were rendered by JMiss Fay Loving and Mrs. Miller, 
who sang in their usual happy style, accompanied by Professor 



41 

Case. ]\Irs. Key kindly permitted ^liss Coll)y to take part in 
the exercises; it is needless to say that Miss Colby delighted lier 
hearers by the splendid manner in which she sanjr. 

The family of Stephen F. Anstin was represented b\- Mv. and 
Mrs. Fred. S. Robbins. of Bay City. 

Over the platform hnng' the handsome ])oi"trait of Anstin. the 
gift of Col. Gny M. Bryan. Jr.. of Ilonston. 

The committee on arrangements desires to take this oppoi*- 
tunity of thanking those who partici})ated in the prograiii. and 
who contributed so largely to the success of the occasion. 

PROGR.\M. 

Music Miss Fav Loving 

"The Debt of Texas to Stephen F. Austin" C. b! Randell 

Music i\Irs. ^Tiller 

The Historv and the Purpose of the Stephen F. Austin Fel- 
lowship Dr. T. S. Clyce 

"Deus Regnat" (motto on Austin's Coat-of-Arms) 

Dr. T. A. Wharton 

Music ^liss Byrle Colby 

Doxology and Benediction. 



STEPHEN FULLER AUSTIN, A BUSINESS MAN 

A brief History of the Most Eminent and Successful Empresario of Texas 
and the Manner of his Success, both as a Colonizer and a Diplomat. 

BY S. P. ETHERIDGE. IN HOUSTON POST. 

The changes wrought by time have not been confined to modes 
of transportation, manners of conducting warfare, manners of 
barter and trade; the whole list, as it were, has been revised, 
even the standard of a modern hero is quite different from a 
few centuries ago. It is true, the sentimental are with us yet 
whose mind, in depicting a hero, would take his measure by the 
strength of his armor, the keenness of his sword, and the number 
of knights or "heathens" he had sent home on their shields, but 
the modern and typical American is now wont to pass judg- 
ment on a hero by taking the measure of his business acumen 
and the "quantity" of his success. The man who gains the very 
pinnacle of success, and then makes a misstep and loses his for- 
tune, at the same time loses the high esteem in which he is held 



42 

by his fellowmen — his name is written in the modern "Dooms- 
day" day book to guide other weary pilgrims, who try to nego- 
tiate the mysterious paths of high finance. 

But that "nothing succeeds like success" has been demonstrat- 
ed in the world of a business, and to be a real modern hero, a 
man must not only "corner May wheat." but be able to realize 
handsomely on the venture. While these conditions obtain to- 
day, fifty or a hundred years ago matters were quite different, 
as in turn those days were as different from a century previous 
to that. It is true this evolution has not been noticeable from 
day to day. The change is gradual that a comparison of to-day 
with yesterday shows so small a change that it cannot be de- 
tected, but a comparison of to-day with a day ten years pre- 
vious, the difference is quite obvious, and the conclusion is, that 
a change takes place from day to day. 

The modern business men, the real business men, the modern 
hero, can detect this progress by bringing down the calculation 
to the minutest point, and thus gain a knowledge of the trend 
of affairs, anticipate the wants of the world for a few years to 
come, and make his investments accordingly. 

AUSTIN A MODERN HERO. 

Stephen Fuller Austin, "The Father of his Colony," the most 
potent factor in the development of Texas, the hero and the 
idolized of Texas' million school children and the student of his- 
tory in other parts of the world, was the modern hero — a modern 
business man. It is true that his devotion to the cause of Texas 
sapped away his vitality, and death claimed him before his plans 
obtained their fruition ; but the measure of his success was so 
full that one marvels at his accomplishment in a little more than 
a decade. Where he found a wilderness, he turned it into a 
garden, and where found savages, he replaced their wigwams with 
farm houses occupied by a liberty-loving and highly cultivated 
citizenry. 

A business man is not always cold as steel and sharp as a 
chisel; he is cold as steel when it is time to be chilly, but he is 
affable and plertsaiit when the time comes; and being a true 
man, he is tender and loving at home. Austin was endeared to 
his people, and admired by the succeeding generation, because, 
in addition to being a business man. he shared his knowledge of 
business with his colonists ; his success meant success to them ; 
the two were mutually dependent. He was kind and loving, not 
only because he was such by nature, but he knew full Avell the 



43 

advantage of having his colonists love and respect him; he was 
sociable and democratic, not only because he was such by nature, 
but because the hardy pioneers required that of the man they 
would respect. Austin encouraged honesty among his colonists 
by being honest himself. It served him well, not only himself, 
but the people of Texas to-day. 

HONESTY IN BUSINESS. 

It is not claimed that he would have been otherwise than just, 
kind and honest, if it would have served his purpose better, but 
it is quite evident he knew what it took to succeed with colonists 
in Texas, and if conditions or circumstances had been different 
he would never have undertaken the work that he did. Austin 
was all that he pretended. In the code of laws he wrote for the 
guidance of his colonists, gambling was expressly forbidden ex- 
cept on horse racing, and in this a debt incurred by gambling 
on horse racing could not be recovered by law. This was to en- 
running a roulette wheel in ^lexico ; he was opposed to gambling, 
first of all because he was convinced it was wrong, as was shown 
in a letter to Hay den Edwards, in a measure censuring him for 
running a roulette wheel in INIexico ; he was opposed to gambling 
secondly, because he knew it would make those who participated 
in it indolent and lazy. As a consideration by a business man 
the latter reason would have been sufficient to justify its prohibi- 
tion, as it was necessary that Austin have men in his colony that 
would produce, as markets were too far and sufficient to sustain 
all was required to be raised at home. In doing this the col- 
onists would prosper, and Austin would prosper also. 

HIS EARLY LIFE. 

Pioneer life Wiis not altogether new to Stephen F. Austin. 
His father, Moses Austin, was a pioneer before him. first mov- 
ing to "Mine A. Burton," upper Louisiana (now JMissouri), 
in 1799, when young Stephen was but 6 years of age. Louisiana 
at that time was new country, sparsely settled, but rich in pros- 
pects. Moses Austin was a business man himself. He looked 
into the future, and saw that the increased population of the 
Atlantic seaboard would soon outgrow the country, and would 
first spread into the Mississippi valley for new territory. He 
went there to be in on the ground floor. Being a minor in Wythe 
County, Virginia, where young Stephen was born, it was quite 
natural he would seek to follow the same occupation in the new 
country. The result was that he bought the lead mines known 



44 

as "Mine A. Burton." In 1810 young Stephen went into the 
mining business with his father, thus acquiring a knowledge of 
the pioneer settlers and the business methods of his father, which 
was of material assistance to him in the new country which he 
was destined to settle. 

Stephen F. Austin was not only a business man by training 
but by inheritance. His father at one time was a member of the 
importing tirm of Stephen Austin & Company, of Philadelphia, 
and later established a branch concern at Richmond, Virginia, 
known as Moses Austin & Company. In the importing business 
Moses Austin learned of the rescmrces of the West and its possi- 
bilities, having been in touch with trade for years, and knowing 
the secret of disposing of the product to the best advantage, 
hence his mining venture in Virginia and his subsecpient removal 
to Louisiana (Missouri). JMoses Austin was rich in experiences 
in the tinancial world, also. He was one of the stockholders, 
and, perhaps, one of the founders of a bank in St. Louis which 
flourished for several years and yielded the concern rich returns. 
This institution was wrecked in 1819 by Kentucky speculators, 
and financially ruined Moses Austin and his son Stephen. The 
mine failing to give up as rich returns as might be expected, and 
his fortune wasted, Moses Austin conceived the idea of establish- 
ing a colony in Texas. 

EYES TURNED TOWARD TEXAS. 

Moses Austin was a man of considerable business foresight. 
He had seen the Mississippi valley develop. He knew that Texas, 
with her salubrious climate and fertile prairies, was destined 
in a few years to be the most valuable in North America. He 
determined to plant a colony near the Gulf of JMexico, convenient 
to water transportation, in order that New Orleans, St. Louis, 
New York and other eastern ports would be of easy access. 
Stephen Austin shared in his father's convictions. While the 
Mexican authorities which ruled over Texas were opposed to the 
idea of settling Texas with North Americans, jNFoses Austin, with 
the aid of Baron de Bastrop, induced the authorities at Bexar 
(San Antonio) to give him a contract for settling 300 families. 

This venture was one of pure business. There is no evidence 
that Austin considered finding homes for the oppressed, for there 
were none in America. There is no evidence that he intended 
to found a petty kingdom, or to enter a wedge for the United 
States to gain authority over the rich and fertile country. It 
is more than likely that the section 19 of the imperial law of 



45 

]\Iexico that afterwards became efit'ective, but which was practic- 
ally in accord with his contract, appealed to him. This section 
reads as follows : 

"■To each empressario who introduces and establishes families 
in any of the provinces designed for colonization there shall be 
granted at the rate of three haciendas (66,4-t> acres) and two la- 
bors (354 1-4 acres) for each two hundred families so introduced 
by him. The premium cannot exceed nine haciendas (199,278 
acres) and six labors (1062 3-4 acres), whatever be the number 
of families he may introduce." 

In 1820 all arrangements were made by Closes Austin for the 
settlement of three hundred families. Encountering many hard- 
ships on his return, and having passed the age of life when 
disease could be successfully combated, IMoses Austin died at the 
age of 56, upon his return home to IMissouri. It was his desire 
that his son, Stephen F. Austin, carry out his project. 

ASSUMES FxVTHER's CONTRACT. 

The same year young Austin came to Texas, and had the con- 
tract with his father confirmed, and was welcomed into what is 
now known as the Lone Star State, made possible, in a large 
measure, by his own efforts. 

Stephen F. Austin was a successful empresario. Strange as 
it may seem, his success stands head and shoulders above that 
of the scores of others who attempted the same project in Texas. 
He selected his land between the Lavaca and San Jacinto Rivers 
on the east and west, the San xVntonio road on the north, and 
the Gulf of ]\Iexic() on the south. The land was fertile, well 
watered, abounded in game, and the streams with fish, and at 
the same time was conveniently situated to deep water, Galves- 
ton making access to foreign markets much easier than if he had 
gone farther into the interior. 

QUALIFIED FOR WORK. 

Austin was the most fitted Empresario in Texas. He was ex- 
perienced in business, and experienced in the making of laws, 
having served in the territorial legislature of JNlissouri from 
1813 to 1819, the time of his removal, being one of the ^^oungest 
and yet one of the most distinguished lawmakers in that body. 
He was experienced in a judiciary capacity, ?ls when, in 1819, 
he was in Arkansas, with a view" of settling there (the present site 
of Little Rock), he was appointed circuit judge by Governor 
Miller, which position he held until he left the Territory. He 



46 

was also a man of learning, as well as a man of experience, hav- 
ing attended school in New England during his early days and 
later, just prior to entering into business with his father, took 
a two years course in the Transylvania University. 

Being known as a man of learning, popular and unusual busi- 
ness experience and ability, the announcement that Stephen F. 
Austin was at the head of a colony in Texas, hundreds of the 
best families sought him out. knowing that he would conscien- 
tiously look to their mutual interest, and feeling certain they 
would succeed. Their confidence was not misplaced, as his col- 
onists not only prospered, but their land titles were looked to 
with a zeal that characterized all his business dealings, with the 
result that they have never been questioned, as subsequent his- 
tory of the State courts will show. 

SOME CHARACTERISTICS. 

If Austin was anything, he was unselfish. He realized to the 
fullest that on the success of his colony depended his own. If 
Austin was anything, he was grateful, he delighted to serve 
those men and women who had come into a wilderness to help 
him make his colony a success. If Austin hated anything, he 
hated failure ; he would have spent his last dollar and consumed 
every spark of his life or energy, or make his colony in Texas a 
success. He was a good lawyer, and he knew that the title to 
his lands and the lands of his colonists in Texas must be beyond 
question, realizing that the time would come when the courts 
would be called upon to decide vexing questions. At the time 
of his setlement in Texas there was internal dissension in Mexico, 
and immediately upon his arrival in Texas there were changes 
in the Mexican government. In 1822 he made the trip to Mexico 
City to have his title and that of his colonists in Texas validated 
beyond the shadow of a doubt. After more than a year of pa- 
tient waiting he succeeded to the minutest detail. 

A SUCCESSFUL DIPLOMAT. 

Austin was a diplomat. His position in Mexico was a diffi- 
cult one. He made friends with both factions, and while one 
faction was in power he managed to make friends with it, and 
at the same time not gain the enmity of the opposition. The 
result was, that he stood as high in the estimation of the officials 
under the republic as under the empire. 

When in INIexico in the interest of his grant of land, Austin 
was neither clothed in buckskin or bison hide, but he was dressed 



47 

according to the latest fashion, which added materially to his 
popularity with the Mexico City society and with members of 
the official family. The Texas pioneer always went well dressed, 
and never forgot the lesson of neatness and polish learned while 
at college in his early clays. His life among the unpolished 
people and in a wilderness never caused him to forget himself 
or grow careless. 

A picture appearing in a number of Texas histories and narra- 
tives of early life in the State, depicts Austin a suit of buckskin 
leaning on a trusty riile and a sleepy-eyed canine by his side. 
This has been seized by a number of sentimental historians to 
be typical of life in Texas and the life of Austin. While this 
may be said in a measure of many of the early settlers, especially 
the stock raisers, it was not true of the founder of this successful 
colony, as he merely posed in such a garb for a picture to please 
some friends and to send back to old college mates. 

MASTERED THE SPANISH. 

He not only mixed with the society of Mexico City while spend- 
ing a year there for the purpose of gaining good will and popu- 
larity, but to study language and customs, which was calculated 
to help him in Texas, and since he had become a IMexican sub- 
ject. He thoroughly mastered the language, and in years to 
come he was the interpreter for his colonists, sending laws and 
decrees promulgated by the government broadcast among his col- 
onists, after being carefully translated into English. Austin also 
mixed socially with the colonists. Being young, handsome, single, 
and a graceful dancer, he was popular with the younger set of 
the pioneers, and whenever a dance was given, the Empresario 
was always among the first invited, and he invariably attended. 

Austin ruled his colony firmly but with justice, mercy and 
kindness. He was experienced in making and applying the laws 
which aided him much in his work. Under the contract with the 
government of IMexieo, he was left the responsibility of govern- 
ing his colonies with few restrictions. He was broad and liberal 
minded, and his civil and criminal codes were simple and brief. 
Included in the civil code he outlined briefly the rules of the 
colony, including therein a fee bill, in order that there could be 
no complaint that he had used partiality in dealing with his 
colonists. 

Austin's criminal code. 

His criminal code was simplicity itself. The first five articles 
related to the treatment of the Indians. His carrying out these 



48 

articles, and the demand that his colonists respect them, account 
in a large measure for his success in dealing with the red men. 
While his colonists were troubled with the Indians, it can be 
said that they were harrassed less than other colonies. Austin 
knew the Indians of the ]\Iississippi valley, and had made a 
study of them, and he was determined to make no mistake, espe- 
cially at a time when the newcomers were not prepared for war, 
but rather compelled, under the circumstances, to develop the 
lands. Article 6 dealt with "murder, theft, robbery and other 
depredations." Article 7 prohibited gambling, except betting 
on horse racing, and this exception was made to encourage the 
breeding of fine horses ; but even in this a debt incurred in mak- 
ing such a bet could not be recovered by law. Article 8 prohib- 
ited profane swearing and drunkenness. Article 9 prohibited a 
man living together publicly as man and wife without first having 
been legally married. Articles 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 were in 
reference to slavery. Article 15 prohibited stealing. Article 16 
defined and prohibited assault. Article 17 defined punishment 
for slander. Article 18 was in reference to making or circulating 
counterfeit money. Article 19 prescribed the manner of dealing 
with the immoral. Article 20 prescribed what the alcaldes should 
do with bad characters and vagabonds. Article 21 outlined pun- 
ishment for anyone resisting the law or abusing an officer. 

Articles 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26 dealt with collecting fines, pay- 
ment of fines, and other matters pertaining to the administra- 
tion of the law effectively and with dispatch. 

Both criminal and civil codes were approved by the political 
chiefs of Texas. 

MANNER OF CONDUCTING BUSINESS. 

The manner in which Austin conducted the business of his 
colony was largely in the manner that any other large land office 
would have been conducted. He kept a force of clerks, trans- 
lators and assistants, at his own expense, to do the work pertain- 
ing to his colony, and a correct record of all lands taken up 
with boundaries. While this money to keep up office expenses 
came largely from his own pocket, he was in a measure reim- 
bursed by eolonists. whom he charged a fee of twelve and a half 
cents per acre for land and other fees provided for in his civil 
code. Much of this money was never paid, as he admitted many 
colonists who were unable to i)ay, but who were well known to 
himself as to their worth and desirability. Added to the duties 
of his office, which was located at San Felipe de Austin, on the 
Brazos River, there was much work to be done looking after ship- 
ments of necessities to the colonies from abroad. 



4£l 

While Austin might have lost money on importing ventures at 
times, he as a rule was paid by colonists either in money for 
such as were brought in, or in products of the soil. This trade 
was not restricted to himself, as he encouraged others to take 
up the importing trade, and as a result the mercantile business 
became profitable. 

BREACH WITH MEXICO. 

While Austin and his colonists were true Mexican citizens, 
and kept the faith with the country with whom they had taken 
contracts, they insisted that Mexico keep her faith also. In 1830, 
Mexico apparently became jealous of the growth of Texas, which 
was becoming thickly settled with North Americans. A decree 
was promulgated prohibiting others from coming in, adding op- 
pressive taxation directly contrary to Austin's and other Empre- 
sarios' contracts. Texas colonists sent memorials and petitions, 
but it did no good. 

A meeting was held, and commissioners were selected to go to 
Mexico. Austin was among them, and was "the only one to go. 
While there, becoming discouraged, he wrote a letter to his col- 
ony, telling them that nothing satisfactory could be expected of 
Mexico, and to prepare to resist Mexican authority. After, in a 
measure, accomplishing his aim, he set out for Texas. The letter 
he had written had been intercepted, condemned as treasonable, 
and he was thrown into prison, where he was held over a year as 
a hostage for Texas. It can be said of Austin that he was a 
devoted Mexican citizen, as shown in the Fredonian rebellion, 
he joined with Mexico against Edwards, his colonists and allies 
in and around Nacogdoches, and succeeded in putting down the 
trouble. 

SERVICE TO THE REPUBLIC. 

In 1835 and 1836, the last two years of the life of Austin, 
he served the provisional Republic of Texas in her struggle for 
independence. He was first made commander-in-chief of the 
army, and was singularly successful in that capacity until the 
campaign around San Antonio, he having been selected as one 
of the commissioners to visit the United States to secure aid 
for the struggling republic, resigned his command to General 
Sam Houston. He was singularly successful in the East as well. 
The diplomacy that served him so well in the Mexican Capital 
served him as well in the United States. He was able to report 
to his country that a ciuarter million dollars had been secured 
to carry on the struggle. 

While Stephen F. Austin lived to see Texas independent, he 



50 

failed in one ambition, and that was to become the President of 
the infant republic. He bowed gracefully to the will of the 
people, and served wherever they decided he was most needed. 
He sought first to be Provisional President in 1835, but Henry 
Smith was selected over him at the convention by nine votes. 
Again, after his return to Texas in 1836 from securing aid in 
the East, he sought to receive the highest honor within the gift 
of the people of Texas. Smith was a candidate also, but the 
ascendency of General Sam Houston, under whom, as command- 
er-in-chief of Texas, the battle of San Jacinto was won, over- 
shadowed them, and both were defeated for the presidency. 

December 27, 1836, at the age of forty-three, the life of this 
keen business man, successful politician, able diplomat and 
patriot, went out, and his body was buried at Peach Point. He 
was a man that remembered with gratitude those who aided 
him, as was seen in his rewarding the heirs of Hawkins, who 
helped him on his first expedition. Texas has long remembered 
with gratitude the services of Austin in her early days, but only 
now has her gratitude become manifest with a tomb and place 
in the State cemetery. 

In John Henry Brown's history of Texas, Vol. 1, pages 114 to 
117, appears the following account of the ceremonies attending 
the burial of General Stephen P. Austin, in 1836, and which 
may be interesting reading in connection with the removal of 
his remains from Brazoria County to the State cemetery at 
Austin : 

General Austin died in the house of his friends, j\Ir. and Mrs. 
George B. McKinstry. His remains lay in state from the twenty- 
seventh to the twenty-ninth, on which day they were escorted 
from West Columbia, two miles, to the steamboat Yellowstone, 
at Columbia. Colonel George W. Poe acted as marshal of the 
procession, headed by the Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate and 
House. Then followed the hearse, with his colleagues of the 
cabinet, Henry Smith, William S. Fisher. James P. Henderson 
and S. Rhodes Fisher, as pallbearers; his relatives, President 
Houston and Vice-President Lamar ; officers of the civil list, offi- 
cers of the army, officers of the navy, and clerks of the depart- 
ments, and citizens. 

On arriving at Peach Point, on the river, the home of James 
F. Perry, his brother-in-law, and the place of interment, the 
procession was met by a detachment of the first regiment of in- 
fantry, under Captain Martin K. Snell, who paid the last honors 
to the deceased patriot, on his interment. His only sister and 
other kindred were in after vears buried beside him. 



51 

On the day of his death the foUowing order was issued : 

War Department. 
Columbia. December 27, 183^6. 
The Father of Texas is no more. The first pioneer of the wild- 
erness has departed. General Stephen F. Austin, Secretary of 
State, expired this day at half past twelve o'clock, at Columbia. 
As a testimony of respect to his high standing, undeviating 
moral rectitude, and as a mark of the nation's gratitude for his 
untiring zeal and invaluable services, all officers, civil and mil- 
itary, are requested to wear crepe on the right arm for a space 
of thirty days. All officers connnanding posts, garrisons or de- 
tachments will, so soon as information is received of this mel- 
ancholy event, cause twenty-three guns (one for each county in 
the Republic), to be fired, with an interval of five minutes be- 
tween each; and also have the garrison and regimental colors 
hung with black, during the space of mourning for the illus- 
trious deceased. 

By order of the President. 

William S. Fisher. 

Secretary of War. 

A similai' order to the navy was issued by S. Rhodes Fisher, 
Secretary of that department. 

Among the touching episodes connected with the death of 
General Austin, was the presence with him in the hour of death 
of perhaps his oldest living friends in Texas. ^lajor James Kerr, 
of Lavaca, who had served with him in the territorial legislature 
of Missouri twenty years before, and who had ever been his 
warm and confidential friend in Texas. There lies before me 
now an entry in the private diary of Major Kerr, written on the 
day of Austin's death, beautiful in its tender lamentation over 
the sad event. 

In the Senate of the United States, on the first of August, 1854, 
after referring to the American fathership of Texas, General 
Sam Houston, in the fullness of a great heart, said : 

"Stephen F. Austin was the Father of Texas. This is a des- 
ignation justly accorded to him. as will be testified to by every 
man who is acquainted with the primitive history of Texas, or its 
progress, as long as he lived. He is entitled to that honor. Pos- 
terity will never know the worth of Stephen F. Austin, the priva- 
tion which he endured, the enterprise which he possessed, his 
undying zeal, his ardent devotion to Texas and her interests, 
and his hopes connected with her glorious destiny. ' ' 



52 



AUSTIN S RELATIVES. 

The daughter of IMoses Austin and Mary Brown Austin, Emily 
Margaret Brown Austin, married in Missouri, tlrst, James Bryan, 
a native of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and of their issue three 
sons only reared families, the members of which are given below ; 
second, she married in ]\Iissouri, James Franklin Perry, a native 
of Franklin County, Pennsylvania, and of their issue but one 
son reared a family, the members of which are given below. 
These are the descendants of ]\ros<'s Austin, as Stephen F. Aus- 
tin never married, and James Elijah Brown Austin had but 
one child, a son. who died in 1887, at the age of 8 years, the 
father having died in 1829. ]\Ioses Austin had but these three 
children. 

William Joel Bryan (deceased). 

James Perry Bryan, near Quintana, Brazoria County. 

Guy M. Bryan. Jr., Houston. 

Samuel I. Bryan (deceased). 

Moses Austin Bryan, Jr. (deceased). 

Erin E. Bryan (deceased). 

Lavinia Bryan Stratton (deceased). 

Moses Austin Bryan (deceased). 

Polyearp Lemotte Bryan. 

James Bryan, Lee County. 

By second marriage : 

Lewis R. Bryan, Houston. 

Beauregard Bryan. El Paso. 

Austin Y. Bryan, Columbia. 

Guy Morrison Bryan (deceased). 

William Jack Bryan. Houston. 

Mrs. Edward W. Parker, Washington. D. C. 

Mrs. Emmett Lee Perry, Bay City. 

Guy Morrison Bryan, Houston. 

Stephen S. Perry (deceased). 

James Franklin Perry, Perry's Landing. 

Henry Austin Perry, Angleton. 

Charles B. Perry, Nevada. 

Emmett Lee Perry, Bay City. 

Mrs. A. A. Moore, Bay City. 

Mordella S. Perry, Bay City. 



53 



BRIEF HISTORY OF STEPHEN F. AITSTIN. 

A son of IMoses and jNIary Brown Austin. 

Born in Austinville, Wvthe Countv. Virginia. November 3. 
1793. 

Moved to Louisiana (now IMissouri) in 1798. 

Early school days were spent at St. Genevieve, INIo. 

In 1804 he was sent to Springfield, Conn., and placed under a 
private tutor. Rev. Horace ITolley ; he later attended school at Col- 
chester and New London. 

In 1808 he resumed his studies at the Transylvania (University, 
in Lexington, Ky. 

In 1810, returned home in Missouri, and went into business 
with his father in lead mining and smelting. 

In 1813 he was elected to the Territorial legislature of Mis- 
souri, holding office till 1819. 

In 1819 he and his father formed the plan of settling a colony 
in Texas, and the same year went to Arkansas in the interest of 
the plan. 

While in Arkansas he laid off a town, which his brother-in-law, 
James Bryan, named Little Rock. 

In 1820 he was made one of the circuit judges by Territorial 
Governor IMiller. 

In 1820 he went to New Orleans to make the requisite arrange- 
ments for aiding his father, who had gone to Bexar (San An- 
tonio) to obtain grants of land for colonization. 

In 1821, June 18. he started from New Orleans on the steam- 
boat Beaver for Texas. 

In 1821, July 20, while at Natchitoches, he learned of his 
father's death, and determined to carry out the colonization 
plans. 

In 1821, August 12, he arrived in San Antonio, where he 
learned of IMexico's independence. 

In 1821, December, he arrived with his first immigrants. 

In 1822 he went to Mexico to have his colonization plans val- 
idated by the new government, and. because of the unsettled state 
of affairs, w^as compelled to remain there a year. 

In 1823 the town of San Felipe de Austin was established as 
the site of the colony's business affairs. 

In 1824. 1825 and 1826 arrangements were made for the settle- 
ment of additional families to the 300 first provided for in the 
original grant, to the number of 1200, 



54 

In 1827, in addition to his work for the colony, devoted much 
of his time to the putting down of the Fredonian rebellion. 

In 1833, June 1, he left Texas as a delegate to Mexico, to at- 
tempt to have an obnoxious decree repealed and have Texas made 
a separate State. 

In 1833. December 10. having succeeded in a measure, he start- 
ed for Texas. 

In 1834. February 13, lie was arrestctl on a charge of treason 
and thrown into prison, where he was held for over a year. 

In 1835. August, he was released, and returned to Texas, where 
he began preparations with the colonists to preserve their rights 
and resist Mexican authority. 

In 1835. October 10. he was made conmiander-in-chief of the 
Texas army in war for independence against Mexico. 

In 1835, December, delegates to form a provisional government 
and formulate a declaration of principles made him one of the 
commissioners to the United States. Henry Smith was chosen 
President of Texas over Austin by nine votes. 

In 1836 a loan of $250,000 was secured by Austin to aid Texas 
in her struggle for independence. 

In 1836, July, he returned to Texas, and interested himself in 
the release of Santa Anna, who had been captured at San Ja- 
cinto, the battle that gained Texas her independence. 

In 1836, October, Austin and Smith were defeated for the 
presidency of Texas by General Sam Houston. 

In 1836, December 27, Austin died; his body placed on the 
steamer YelloMstone, conveyed to Peach Point, where he was 
buried with appropriate honors. 

In 1910, October 19. the body of this distinguished man is to be 
removed to the State cemetery at Austiu to be placed in its final 
resting place. 



55 

HOUSE BILL No. 27. 

By McKinney. 

In the House. — January 12, 1911, read first time and referred 
to Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds; January 20, 
1911, reported favorably by committee; January 21, 1911, re- 
ported favorably. 

A BILL 

TO BE ENTITLED 

An Act to provide for the erection of a monument over the re- 
mains of General Stephen F. Austin, in the State cemetery 
at Austin, Texas; to make an appropriation therefor and 
to declare an emergency. 

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas: 

Section 1. That a monument be erected over the remains of 
General Stephen F. Austin, in the State cemetery at Austin, 
Texas, under the supervision of the Governor and the Superin- 
tendent of Public Buildings and Grounds, and that the sum of 
ten thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, 
be appropriated for that purpose out of any funds in the State 
Treasury, not otherwise appropriated, and the Comptroller of 
Public Accounts is hereby authorized and directed to issue war- 
rants for the cost thereof upon accounts therefor, approved by 
the Governor. 

Section 2. The fact that seventy- four years have elapsed since 
the death of General Austin, and no suitable expression of the 
love and gratitude of the people of this State, for his services to 
Texas, having yet been made, and that the monument herein 
provided for should be erected without delay, create an emer- 
gency and an imperative public necessity that the constitutional 
rule requiring ])ills to be read on three several days be sus- 
pended, and that this act take effect and be in force from and 
after its passage, and it is so enacted. 

COMMITTEE REPORT. 

Connnittee Room, Avistin. Texas, 

January 20, 1911. 

Hon. Sam Rayhurn, Speaker of the House of Representatives: 

Sir : Your Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, to 
whom was referred House Bill No. 27. a bill to be entitled 
An Act to provide for the erection of a monument over the re- 



66 

mains of General Stephen F. Austin, in the State cemetery 

at Austin, Texas ; to make an appropriation therefor, and 

to declare an emergency, 

Have had the same under consideration, and I am instructed to 

report it back to the House with the recommendation that it do 

pass. IMr. Stamps was appointed to make a full report. 

Lawson, Chairman. 

FULL REPORT. 

Connnittee Room, Austin, Texas, 

January 20, 1911. 

Hon. Sam Rayhurn, Speaker of the House of Representatives: 

Sir: Your Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, to 
whom was referred House Bill No. 27, a bill to be entitled 
An Act to provide for the erection of a monument over the re- 
mains of General Stephen F. Austin, in the State cemetery 
at Austin, Texas; to make an appropriation therefor, and 
to declare an emergency. 
House Bill No. 27, being a bill to provide for a suitable monu- 
ment over the remains of Stephen F. Austin, recently (October, 
1910) removed from Brazoria County, where the body has been 
buried since his death. A. D. 1836, to the State cemetery in the 
City of Austin, is a spontaneous demand from all of Texas. 

Your committee, witliout a dissenting voice, recommend the 
speedy passage of this hill. 

Every patriotic impulse of the great heart of the people of 
Texas demands we do not delay this important recognition of the 
life and services of a man who made possible, by self-sacrifice, 
our fir-hievements in every line of civilization. 

Respectfullv submitted, 

STAMPS. 



